Two new overpasses open next month

JAKARTA (JP): Two overpasses on arterial roads will be completed next month as part of an effort to solve Jakarta's horrendous traffic congestion, the head of City Public Works Office, Soeharto, said yesterday.

The overpasses are on Jl. Lapangan Roos, South Jakarta, and Jl. K.S. Tubun, West Jakarta, Soeharto said during a field inspection.

He said the Lapangan Roos overpass is 400 meters long and 17 meters wide. It cost Rp 14 billion (US$ 5,942,275) which came from the city's budget.

The K.S. Tubun overpass will be about 500 meters long and 17 meters wide.

He said three other overpasses in Cideng, Karet, Pramuka, and an underpass in Tanah Abang were scheduled to be completed in May.

He said the Lapangan Roos intersection was prone to traffic jams because many vehicles use it daily and a train goes through the area every six minutes.

The overpass will be one of nine on the arterial road connecting Pondok Kopi, East Jakarta, and downtown Kota, he said. Land appropriation was being carried out for two other overpasses in Pejompongan and Jl. Pahlawan Revolusi, he said.

Soeharto said the road construction projects would only partly solve the city's traffic problems.

"The number of cars using the intersections is not the only cause of traffic jams," he said, saying the number of vehicles on the road increased too quickly for road infrastructure to keep up.

He said the number of vehicles in the Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi areas increased 14 percent yearly, while the length of roads increased by only four percent.

"There are some 700 new vehicles driving on the road daily, adding up to 100,000 vehicles yearly," he said.

He also blamed worsening traffic on private cars and repeated violations by irresponsible drivers. The latest data shows the city has at least 2 million vehicles.

Meanwhile, Bandjar Marpaung, chairman of the city council's Commission D, which deals with development, blamed the city's traffic problems on poor spatial planning.

Bandjar also said the growth of the industrial sector in cities surrounding Jakarta and the incompletion of the city's outer ring roads forced people to use the city's inner streets.

"The completion of the outer ring roads and the subway system will help reduce the city's traffic jams," he said.

Soeharto said the projects, scheduled to be completed by the year 2000, are expected to alleviate traffic congestion. (04)