Busway to eat away at parking space in Roxy

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The construction of a 2.2-kilometer overpass on Jl. Hasyim Ashari, West Jakarta, for the busway corridor will result in the elimination of on-street parking along the road.

"With the existing road only 30 meters wide, we have to widen it to at least 43 meters. Therefore, we have to clear all on- street parking," City Public Works Agency head Fodly Misbach said on Friday.

Without alternative parking space available for the time being, he admitted the plan may effect businesses in the area.

The administration has proposed the overpass because it would be impossible for the busway to use the existing road that only has two lanes for each direction.

"If approved, we'll build the overpass in two years time at a proposed cost of around Rp 200 billion (US$21.98 million)," Fodly said.

There will also be a busway stop on the overpass.

During the construction work of the overpass, the busway corridor will be rerouted via Jl. Suryopranoto instead of Jl. Hasyim Ashari to avoid worsening traffic congestion as mentioned earlier by assistant to the city secretary for development affairs IGKG Suena.

"If the overpass plan is rejected, we will build a shorter one, maybe around 200 meters long, at the railway crossing in Roxy Mas area," Fodly said.

The administration has started the construction of the busway corridor stretching from Pulo Gebang, East Jakarta, to Kalideres, West Jakarta, via Roxy and the National Monument (Monas) Park, Central Jakarta. The Pulo Gebang-Monas route is expected to be operational in June next year while the Monas-Kalideres corridor is slated to be operational in October 2005.