JAKARTA: To clear space for heavy machinery working on the Kampung Melayu-Tanah Abang elevated roads, city administrators are expected to close sections of Jl. Prof. Dr. Satrio in South Jakarta next
week.

Novizal, the head of bridge division at the City Public Works Agency, said on Thursday that the road closure had been approved by the agency, the Transportation Agency and The Traffic Division of the Jakarta Police.

The city will close a section connecting Jl. Prof. Dr. Satrio and Jl. Rasuna Said and another section connecting Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Prof. Dr. Satrio.

Novizal said only 70-meter-long sections would be closed. Jl. Casablanca, Jl Prof. Dr. Satrio and Jl. KH Mas Mansyur would remain accessible.

The city has prepared eight alternative routes for the closure.

“We will not close Jl. Prof. Dr. Satrio entirely. We will close only a few short sections of the main thoroughfare,” Novizal said, adding that the flow of traffic leading to the street had to be reduced to give more space for laborers working on foundations for the elevated roads.

The 3.3-kilometer-long elevated road will straddle Jl. Casablanca, Jl. Prof. Dr. Satrio and Jl. KH Mas Mansyur in Central Jakarta, connecting the Kampung Melayu area in East Jakarta with the Tanah Abang area in Central Jakarta. — JP