Road closures results in traffic congestion

Road closures results in traffic congestion

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

The closure of several roads and the shift in traffic
direction due to the construction of the Cikokol flyover here has
resulted in traffic congestion and disorder that becomes a
nightmare for the public.

Employees, students, traders, public minivan drivers and other
road users continued to complain due to difficulties they had
encountered over the past few days.

Some 200 drivers of minivan 06 plying the Anggaris-Karawaci-
Cikokol routes staged a protest at the municipal transportation
agency office on Wednesday due to a drastic decline in their
earnings.

"Many of our passengers now take other buses that now also
pass our route, so that our income has drastically reduced," one
of the drivers Suyanto, 40, told The Jakarta Post.

Besides that, he added, the change in the direction of the
traffic flow and the closure of roads heading to Cikokol from Jl.
Imam Bonjol has also caused traffic congestion along Jl. Imam
Bonjol for a stretch of about five kilometers at any given time
of the day.

"We usually earn Rp 30,000 a day, but now we can only get at
the most Rp 10,000 daily," he added.

The Tangerang municipal transportation agency started to apply
the new traffic policy on Monday.

Sarwani, a 35-year old bank employee, said that he now had to
walk about two kilometers to get to his office from the Imam
Bonjol intersection every morning, and from the office to the
intersection in the afternoon.

He said he took public minivan 06 and used to get off right in
front of his office in Cikokol. But since the traffic heading to
Cikokol from Imam Bonjol has been rerouted, no public vehicles
pass by his office.

Yoga, a high school student in Cikokol, said on Thursday that
he had been late for school over the past three days because the
minivan he normally took could no longer pass by his school.

He said his teachers had reprimanded him saying that if he
came late again, he would not be allowed to enter the classes.

Amin, who was heading to Cokokol, said that he had to cancel
his business appointment because it was too late.

"I am confused which direction I should take now. If I take
the wrong direction, the police will ticket me," he said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of passengers waiting for public vehicles
at the Cikokol bus terminal were also stranded and complained
that they had wasted hours waiting.

A young mother carrying a baby girl was seen sitting by the
roadside near Cikokol terminal, under the scorching sun, while
covering her baby's head with a handkerchief.

"I am going to take my baby for a therapeutic massage in Palem
Semi housing complex. I have been here for more than an hour but
there are no public vehicles that will take us there so far," she
said, adding that her baby had sprained its ankle after falling
down the stairs at home and was badly in need of help.

An activist on public policy, Ibnu Jandi, said that the people
could sue the administration if the condition lasted too long,
because the traffic policy had made them suffer.

However, a municipal official, who refused to be named, took
it lightly.

"The changes in traffic direction and the closure of several
roads have just started. Sooner or later, people will get used to
it," he said.