The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 01/05/2010 10:36 AM
Cyclists living in South Jakarta will be the first to enjoy bicycle lanes, which will be built on several routes across the municipality.
The South Jakarta administration’s website says the first cycle lane will go from Jl. Lebak Bulus to Jl. Pondok Metro. It then passes Jl. Kyai Maja to Jl. Sisingamaraja.
South Jakarta Mayor Syahrul Effendi said that he planned to extend the bicycle lane to Jl. Jend. Sudirman and Jl. Setiabudi in Karet Kuningan subdistrict.
According to the City Traffic Police Chief Sr. Comr. Condro Kirono, the lane will be 0.5 to 1 meter wide.
“From Jl. Lebak Bulus to Jl. Sisingamaraja route, there will be a specially marked section on sidewalks.
For area with narrow sidewalks like the Kuningan area, the lane will occupy a space in the street,” Condro told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Rivo Pamudji, a spokesman for Bike to Work (B2W) welcomed this.
“We appreciate the initiative of South Jakarta municipality,” said Rivo.
Rivo added that about 500 members of B2W who lived in the South Jakarta and Tangerang areas used the routes to travel to their offices.
“We do not need an exclusive lane like the busway lane [on sidewalks]. In the streets, where cars and motorcycles do not want to give way to bikers, we truly need a specially marked lane for bicycles,” he said.
Nirwono Joga, a landscape architect, questioned using sidewalks.
“I agree the city need bicycle lanes. But, I think these routes are too crowded. The sidewalks are too narrow to be used by both pedestrians and bikers,” he said.
Nirwono said that in Kuningan sidewalks are only a half meter wide and streets four meters wide.
“The sidewalks are too narrow and the streets are also narrow. There is a busway lane there and I think to add a bicycle lane will cause more congestion,” Nirwono said.
“It will be more effective to make bicycle lanes from residential areas to busway shelters and train stations. The bikers can also use environmental friendly public transportation systems,” he said.
Nirwono added that building a bicycle lane on the sidewalks along Jl. Lebak Bulus to Jl. Sisingamaraja was not a good idea.
“Only a sidewalk 6 meters wide could be used by pedestrian and bikers. The sidewalks are not only too narrow, but dangerous for bikers. There are so many holes,” he said.
“Also, so many public facilities such as electricity poles, phone cables and water pipes are built near the sidewalks. At least 12 city agencies control these facilities,” he said.
The City Transportation Agency traffic management chief Muhammad Akbar said the South Jakarta municipality’s plan should be appreciated since they had moved ahead of the provincial administration.
“We are still in the process of making a bicycle lane master plan. The municipality has planned to finish the lane this year,” Akbar said.
“I have not learned the details. However, I hope that it would be in line with the master plan,” he said.
According to Akbar, the city administration’s master plan says that there should be three kinds of bicycle lanes in the city. First, the bicycle lanes should be built on sidewalks which are more than 6 meter wide. Second, the lanes should be allocated some space in the streets which are not too crowded.
Third, the lanes should be built in green strips alongside railways, rivers and canals. (mrs)
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