BAGUIO CITY– The city government disclosed that the proposed put up of pay-parking structures in strategic areas in the city will be funded from available funds of the city to ensure that the buildings that will be constructed pursuant to the prescribed standards.
City Administrator Bonifacio dela Peña said the proposed sites of the pay-parking buildings to be erected include Mines View Park, Wright Park, Botanical Garden, Baguio Convention Center (BCC) area, Baguio Athletic Bowl, among others, that will be determined as feasible for the said purpose to help provide adequate parking spaces for park goers.
He said technical personnel of the city government recently inspected the proposed sites of the proposed pay-parking buildings to assess and evaluate the area prior to the preparation of the plans and specifications of the proposed structures.
In the case of the proposed pay-parking building within the Baguio Athletic Bowl, the city administrator claimed the wooden bleachers will be demolished to pave the way for the construction of a multi-level parking structure to cater to the parking needs of people frequenting the sports facility to be funded from the P109 million lodged for the unimplemented projects under the City Environment and Parks Management Office (CEPMO).
According to him, the proposed multi-level parking building within the orchidarium area will be the only project to be subjected to other modes, specifically the public-private partnership (PPP), considering that it will form part of the planned development of the 34-hectare Burnham Park complex.
He explained that based on financial projects, the return on investment of the proposed pay parking buildings in the different sites in the city will be 5 years, thus, it is best for the city government to invest on the same and ensure it will be generating added revenues to bankroll the city’s priority development projects in the future.
One of the recommended solutions to the worsening traffic congestion in the different parts of the city aggravated by the continuous increase in the number of vehicles plying the city’s streets is the establishment of multi-level pay-parking structures in strategic areas in the city to provide parking spaces for vehicles and prevent them from being parked on the sides of the streets.
Aside from the put up of multi-level parking structures in strategic areas in the city, traffic experts recommended the simultaneous implementation of interventions that will contribute in efforts to improve the city’s mass transport system to convince people to patronize the same and be encouraged to walk around the city.
Previously, the city government entertained numerous proposals from the private sector for the possible put up of a multi-level parking building in the present Ganza parking area that will help in alleviating the prevailing traffic congestion in the city’s central business district area but no final decision was achieved on the said proposals.
By Dexter A. See