Bogor Botanical Gardens underpass already under construction

Leony Aurora The Jakarta Post Jakarta

The construction of a pedestrian underpass connecting Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) with the Bogor Botanical Gardens, is already underway. A new parking lot at the insitute and a new gate at the botanical gardens are being built as part of the project.

Due to a huge hole on Jl. Pajajaran, Bogor marking the site of the underpass, traffic is being diverted to another road.

ITB students have protested that the Rp 7.6 billion (US$894,117) project, called the integrated rearrangement of Baranangsiang area, will change the face of their campus. But grass has already been cleared for the parking lot and concrete laid.

The parking lot, with a capacity of 50 buses, will be located near the basketball court. Visitors will have to walk 200 meters through the campus grounds to access the underpass. The street in front of the parking lot will also be widened to enable buses heading to Jakarta to enter the toll road.

IPB management argued that the parking lot would be a source of income for the insitute, which needs Rp 18 million per student annually to cover costs but charges only Rp 10 million per student yearly.

Aside from that, the management also supported the administration's claim that traffic congestion would be eased around the area.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Jl. Pajajaran, the new gate to the botanical gardens, which is also the mouth of the underpass, is nearly finished. A shelter over the gate and ticket counters are yet to be built.

The project's management did not indicate when the underpass would be completed.