BAGUIO CITY, (PNA) — City Mayor Mauricio Domogan has ordered a feasibility study of a wide underground parking facility at the vicinity of the Melvin Jones Grandstand at Burnham Park to further decongest existing parking spaces.
The order came as the city government suspends the collection of P20 an hour parking fee for those who park along the Lake Drive, Abad Santos Drive, and Orchard street at Burnham Park.
Domogan said the study would determine how the public-private partnership policy on development would be able to infuse investment in the pioneering project so that Baguio will not spend for its establishment while the city would be able to have a spacious parking facility.
For two weeks, more visitors aboard their respective tourist buses and other vehicles found the designated parking spaces as very convenient but many concerned individuals have started to protest the legality of the collection of parking fees.
At a time, more than 300 vehicles can be accommodated by the designated places at the city’s premier park and decongested traffic within the main roads like Harrison Road, Magsaysay Avenue, Session Road and Abanao Road where parallel parking is allowed at certain periods of the day.
Parking has become an essential facility for tourism after it was determined that aside from the estimated more 200,000 public utility vehicles, private vehicles and government transport, more than 500 vehicles of tourists have to be parked at hotels and parks each week.
It can be recalled that parking spaces here became a problem in the early 1990s which even prompted the city to allow a private corporation to utilize roadsides as fee parking.
Many visitors and residents however protested on the operations of the corporation which motivated then City Mayor Braulio Yaranon to move against its operation.
While it was true that Yaranon succeeded in ousting the corporation from its business utilizing properties of the public domain, the local chief executive also cost him his position for he was ousted for a charge of abuse of authority.
To date, the parking needs remain increasing mainly due to the roles of the city as international tourism destination as well as educational center north of Manila.