Meeting point of Busway moved from Monas to Harmoni

Meeting point of Busway moved from Monas to Harmoni

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta administration will move the meeting point of the
three busway corridors from the National Monument (Monas) park to
Harmoni, right above the Mookervart River between Jl. Gajah Mada
and Jl. Hayam Wuruk.

City Transportation Agency head Rustam Effendi Sidabutar said
at City Hall on Thursday the construction of the meeting point
would begin in March and would be completed in six months.

The project, expected to cost Rp 29 billion, will likely
increase traffic woes in the already clogged areas around Harmoni
as one of the two lanes currently used by private vehicles will
be taken over during the construction.

"It is inevitable that traffic will get worse during
construction, and I am ready if people blame me for this policy,"
Rustam said.

The Jakarta administration originally planned to construct the
meeting point of the three corridors near Monas, but urban
planners said this would damage the monument.

Rustam said the change would increase construction costs
because the administration had no choice but to build the bus
shelter over the river because of spatial constraints.

The busway shelter, measuring five meters wide and 78 meters
long and called the Harmoni Central Busway shelter, will be 10
times larger than current busway shelters. It will serve as a
meeting point of the first busway corridor from Blok M in South
Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta, and two planned busway corridors
from Pulogadung in East Jakarta to Harmoni, and from Kalideres to
Harmoni.

"We will also take space along both sides of the river for
busway lanes to allow the buses to overtake one another in order
to prevent long queues," said Nurzaman of civil engineering
consultant Arkonin, a subsidiary of city-owned PT Pembangunan
Jaya.

The use of space along the river, Nurzaman said, was to avoid
using lanes currently dedicated for private cars.

The opening of the 12.9-kilometer long busway corridor from
Blok M to Kota in January last year, which was accompanied by the
extension of the three-in-one traffic policy, reportedly dealt a
blow to the business of electronics traders in Glodok.

Vendors in the city's largest electronics center have said the
corridor led to a 50 percent cut in their revenue. The
administration did revise its three-in-one policy by pushing back
the start of the policy by 30 minutes in the evening.

Like the first corridor, the second and third busway corridors
have been criticized because they will eat up the green areas in
the median strips along the corridors, as well as cause the
felling of hundreds of trees.

The City Council also reproached the administration for the
ballooning cost of the project, which is now up to Rp 125.7
billion.

"In his speech, the governor said the total amount of money
needed for the busway would be about Rp 479.6 billion .... But
later we discovered that the total cost of the busway would be
higher, about Rp 600.319 billion," said Moh. Mansur Syaerozi of
the Awakening Reform faction.

I-Box

Estimated construction costs for Harmoni Central Busway (HCB)

Preparation work for HCB Rp 962 million
Ramps for shelter Rp 1 billion
Shelter construction Rp 7.2 billion
Ramp in front of Duta Merlin Rp 1 billion
Special bridge for third corridor Rp 2.4 billion
Bridge for busway U-turn Rp 1.2 billion
(for second corridor)
Busway lanes over the river Rp 12 billion
(two lanes) 340 meters long
Pier works (six units) Rp 324 million
Taxes Rp 3 billion

Total Rp 29 billion