Calizo bats additional parking spaces in Divisoria

AN administration councilor proposed additional parking spaces in Cagayan de Oro City’s Divisoria and downtown areas to accommodate the city’s motorists and ease the city’s traffic congestion.

In a special report to the 20th City Council in Monday afternoon’s session, Councilor Romeo Calizo said the number of registered privately owned and public utility vehicles (PUVs) ballooned to 200,000 and all of them ply the city’s streets and roads daily.

“Even during weekends, the city’s streets are filled with vehicles parked on either side,” he said.

Calizo, who chairs the council’s public utilities committee, showed footage of one such road leading to Camp Evangelista in Barangay Patag that was filled on both sides with parked vehicles.

“Even if it was recently widened, the road is parked on both sides by private vehicles,” he said in Visayan.

Calizo said a friend who’s interested in investing in a tourism project in the city complained to him about the city’s traffic congestion, particularly the lack of parking space.

He said despite the limitations set by the law, it is silent on the number of vehicles a person can acquire.

“Many residents buy more than one vehicle and they park them anywhere they want,” Calizo said.

Due to time constraints, Calizo proposed that the city adopt parking solutions implemented by other local governments.

“In Makati City, they solved their parking problem since they have the money…they have high rise buildings and even underground parking to accommodate the vehicles of their vehicles. In Cagayan de Oro City, the post office area isn’t used. We can use other public properties in Divisoria for parking spaces,” Calizo said.

Councilor Ian Mark Nacaya, who chairs the council’s planning, research, and development committee, supported Calizo’s proposal with an emphasis on vertical parking areas.

“Maybe we can invite investors to build parking structures…areas like Corrales and JR Borja streets can be used but vertical parking areas (can accommodate more vehicles),” Nacaya said. (Stephen Capillas of City Information Office)