Karawaci faces growing traffic problem
Karawaci faces growing traffic problem
TANGERANG, West Java (JP): Motorists have been complaining about growing traffic congestion around the massive Lippo Karawaci shopping center as more stores, restaurants and other businesses open there.
The traffic flow reached a peak on Dec. 3 when about 300,000 visitors went to the super mall for shopping on the Sunday the Mega M department store opened at the end of November.
Motorists said that now traffic jams happen almost everyday, especially on Saturdays and Sundays.
At least 25,000 vehicles from Jakarta enter the super mall complex each Saturday and Sunday to enjoy the new shopping and entertainment center in the complex, located some 20 kilometers west of Jakarta.
Around 67,000 vehicles from Jakarta passed the Karawaci entry toll gate on Sunday last week, James T. Ready, deputy chairman of the Lippo Group, said.
The unexpected response caused a long line of cars stretching from the outside part of the Karawaci toll gate to most of the streets in the Lippo Karawaci area and its surroundings.
The traffic woes forced the Lippo Karawaci management to field 450 people, 150 of whom are managers, to handle the traffic last Saturday.
"The Lippo management should have foreseen the increasing number of cars heading for this area, especially on weekends," said Pratikno, a state employee, who lives in Tangerang.
Another driver said that before the complex was built, feasibility studies on the environment, including traffic management, should have been made.
"The Lippo management should have been informed about the possible number of vehicles using the roads surrounding the complex every day. The management has targeted residents in Karawaci and certain areas of Jakarta as shoppers. However, the management does not seem to even a have rough estimate of the population in the target areas," said another visitor, who spent hours to reach Mega M on a Sunday.
"Just imagine what will happen, when all of the projects in the 210,000-square-meter complex are completed in the future, when the number of vehicles going in and out will be much higher," said an area resident, who refused to be named.
James Riyadi said he could understand why people blamed Lippo Karawaci for causing traffic congestion, because most people do not know the Lippo Karawaci plan.
He said his office had anticipated the "explosion" in the number of vehicles entering the complex once the entertainment centers and the shops opened.
"We plan to construct a number of underpasses, flyovers and new toll gates to anticipate the completion of all projects in this Lippo Karawaci area," James told The Jakarta Post here on Saturday.
James and his staff guaranteed that there would be no more traffic congestion in the Lippo Karawaci area once all of the road infrastructure was completed.
"We have designed our existing roads to be able to facilitate at least 80,000 cars per day," James said.
The Lippo Supermal, developed with an investment of Rp 250 billion (US$120 million) by Lippo Group together with Rodamco from the Netherlands and the government of Singapore, was dedicated by West Java Governor R. Nuriana on Saturday afternoon. (bsr)