I

n a move to improve Jakarta’s historical areas, the Jakarta administration is planning to build elevated sidewalks along Jl. Gajah Mada and Jl. Hayam Wuruk in Central Jakarta.

Head of the City Parks and Cemetery Agency, Catharina Suryowati, said on Tuesday that her agency was currently drafting the details of the engineering design for the sidewalks. The project would cost Rp 10 billion (US$1.12 million), she said.

“I hope that by early next week we can begin holding a tender auction for the project,” Catharina told reporters at City Hall.

The agency chief said that the sidewalks on both streets, which run parallel to each other and are separated only by a tributary canal of Ciliwung River, would hang suspended above traffic.

“We cannot broaden the sidewalks, because that would mean reducing the roads’ width or taking land from land owners along the roads,” Catharina said, adding that land owners did not want to give away part of their property.

The city had planned to build 5-meter-wide sidewalks along the roads, similar to those on Jl. Thamrin and Jl. Sudirman.

The new plan is for elevated sidewalks to run the entire length of the roads, from Harmoni to Kota, with the sidewalks suspended over intersections so that pedestrians would never have to stop for traffic.

Catharina declined to give more details on how high the sidewalks would be.

The city is also planning to plant large trees and other vegetations along the roads to provide shade as part of its city beautification drive.

The Jakarta administration has a number of improvement plans for Jl. Hayam Wuruk and Jl. Gajah Mada, which are located within one of the city’s busiest and oldest business districts.

Earlier this year, the city introduced an on-street parking ban on Jl. Hayam Wuruk and Jl. Gajah Mada.

The ban was planned as a pilot project to pave the way for a more comprehensive moratorium on on-street parking.

The Jakarta Transportation Agency is also planning to outlaw street vendors and beggars from those areas.

Up to 1,800 vehicles can pass through the area every hour if the roads are cleared of parked vehicles.

The administration is encouraging motorists to park in parking garages in shopping complexes in the area, which reportedly have a combined capacity of 6,233 cars and 4,564 motorcycles.

The Kota business district was the center of commerce during the era of Dutch trading empire VOC. The center of the then Batavia was located to the north of the business district, an area now known as Kota Tua (old town).

— JP/Andreas D. Arditya