THE Baguio City Council has approved the initial plans for the proposed development of portions of the land along the Aspiras-Palispis highway, more commonly known as Marcos Highway.
With the initial approval of the city council, the City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) will begin efforts on a feasibility study to assess the proposed development’s social acceptability, financial viability, and potential traffic problems and environmental risks it may cause in the area, which will then be used to refine the plan.
The plan includes the putting up of an intermodal bus terminal to cater to the city’s transport vehicles, a fire station for the Bureau of Fire Protection-Cordillera branch, a modernized waste transfer station and staging area, a new facility to house the city’s abattoir, and the Atab district health center in an eight-hectare lot along the highway given to the city by the Department of Agriculture (DA).
According to City Planning and Development Coordinator Donna Tabangin, the city is negotiating with the DA to get another two hectares of land, bumping up the total to ten hectares, in order to properly accommodate all the planned structures and facilities in the area.
Tabangin also sought a revision of the city’s local public transport route plan (LPTRP) to include a new route that would connect the proposed highway-side bus terminal to the city’s existing public transport routes in a bid to decongest the city’s roads.
Part of the land eyed for the bus terminal is currently occupied by the existing waste transfer station, which Tabangin said would be relocated to another portion of the lot and upgraded to serve its purpose until the city is able to complete a waste-to-energy project for waste disposal.
The four-hectare integrated terminal station is planned to house southbound buses currently housed along Gov. Pack Road.
