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.