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