BAGUIO EYES SHORTER TRIPS AROUND CITY THRU BIKE LANE
BAGUIO CITY—The local government began implementing on Thursday the first phase of its bike lane project that aims to transform the summer capital into a “20-minute city.”
The first phase, which covers 14 kilometers, includes routes along Loakan Road and within the central business district, the city engineering office said in a statement on Friday.
These routes cover the bike loop from Justice Hall to Kalaw Street; the connectors from Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) rotunda to Panagbenga Park, and from Gov. Pack Road to BGHMC rotunda; the outer routes from Loakan-Apugan to Leonard Wood Road, Harrison Road to M. Roxas Street via Magsaysay Avenue-Bonifacio Street, and City Hall to Marcos Highways via Legarda Road.
City planning officer Donna Tabangin, who has been advocating for increased “walkability” here, said the project envisions the city’s roads to become “community spaces” that could eventually be transformed to accommodate various modes of mobility.
“The goal is for all of us to be able to go about our daily activities within a 20-minute travel time from our homes and vice versa through walking, cycling and modern public transport conveyances,” Tabangin earlier said.
Due to the narrow width of most of the city’s roads, these will be shared between cyclists and motorists, she said.
“Wide roads will be able to contain dedicated lanes but for narrow ones, which are plenty, let [users] share these lanes. All of us will have to play a responsible role in the sharing,” Tabangin said.
DPWH’s nod
City engineer Edgar Victorio Olpindo said the first phase cost P50 million, adding that it was studied, planned and completed in coordination with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and other concerned stakeholders.
He said the next phase would cover other urban streets and major roads in the city.
The project is based on the concept of inverted pyramid for mobility or transport that prioritizes bike lanes, pedestrians and public transportation over commercial vehicles and trucks, high-occupancy vehicles and single-occupancy cars, Olpindo said.
According to the DPWH, bicycle facilities are categorized into three: a bike path that is completely separated from the road (class 1); a bike lane that is separated from the road using a marking or a physical separator (class 2); and a bike path that can be used as alternative road for vehicles when necessary (class 3).
Baguio’s bike lane is designed to include space outside the main streets for storage or parking and repair stations.
2019 study
A 2019 Baguio urban carrying capacity study showed that the combined 349-km Baguio roads could support only 145,416 people in a community with a 350,000 population (or a daytime population of 700,000).
Commissioned by the National Economic and Development Authority, the study said the city’s streets “[are] no longer adequate to support its 2015 population,” resulting in “traffic jams, air pollution and [may] cut down the economic productivity of commuters due to more time spent traveling.”
As of the 2020 census, the city’s population has grown to 366,358, from 345,366 in 2015.