Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has been making some bold moves in regards to controlling Jakarta’s out-of-control traffic, most recently by extending the 3-in-1 rule test removal for another month. Ahok is also pushing for another change that will have a big effect on Jalan Sudirman, the capital’s biggest and most central thoroughfare.
Ahok says he plans to completely eliminate Sudirman’s slow lanes. But instead of using the extra space to widen the road, the governor says he wants to enlarge the street’s sidewalks up to a spacious 9.5 meters.
“Why widen the sidewalks? It’s for people using rail-based [transportation], how else are they going to walk around?” he said today as quoted by Tempo.
The rail-based transportation system Ahok is referring to is the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system, which won’t be operational until 2019. Corridor 1 of the MRT will travel along and below Sudirman. Ahok said the wider sidewalks will make people more comfortable and more likely to use the MRT and buses along the road. He also said the trees currently occupying the lane dividers will be moved to shade the sidewalks.
Certainly having a wide, spacious sidewalk would make us more likely to take a stroll down Sudirman (though not on a searingly hot day like today). However, it’s hard to anticipate just how much traffic chaos eliminating the slow lanes could bring to Sudirman, considering how prone Jakarta drivers are to changing lanes at the last possible moment instead of lining up for little things like getting onto the highway.
