As we wrote in a post in May, those much-loathed unwieldy concrete blocks used to divide traffic on Yangon streets are going bye-bye.
But at least in some places they will be replaced with steel grilles starting later this month, according to traffic police.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Aung Ko Oo told the Myanmar Times the grilles would replace blocks at the Myaynigone, Shwegonedine and Hledan flyovers among other locations.
“And we will permanently remove the concrete blocks from bus stop No 106 to Chan Myae Yeik Thar Monastery on Kabar Aye Pagoda Road, from Parami traffic lights to the School of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security,” he said.
The blocks were criticized as dangerous, even by members of the Yangon City Development Committee, which laid them in 2014.
“Some people said these blocks were very dangerous for buses and cars. It’s true,” official Kyaw Saw was quoted as saying. “First we painted yellow lines, but drivers ignored them. Then we laid plastic blocks, but drivers got out and moved them. We never wanted to lay concrete blocks, but we had to do it. I kept hoping people would get used to them.”
