Medium strip to be demolished

JAKARTA: A part of tree-lined medium strip on some of the major roads connecting Blok M in South Jakarta and Kota in North Jakarta will be cleared by the city administration to make way for the construction of a bus lane to reduce traffic jams.

The special bus lane will pass the medium strip along Jl. Sudirman, Jl. MH Thamrin and Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat, according to Rustam Effendy, the head of the City Land Transportation Agency. It would also be developed to cross the river on Jl. Gajah Mada and Jl. Hayam Wuruk.

About 40 bus stops would be erected to be accessed through 29 pedestrian overpasses along the main roads from Blok M to Kota.

Rustam said the project would start this year.

Only buses run by privately owned bus operator Steady Safe and the administration's PPD will transport passengers through the special lane, Rustam said. --JP