City Hall: Jalan Jati to be pedestrian-friendly
Published on: Tuesday, October 12, 2021
By: Sidney Skinner
.jpg "City Hall: Jalan Jati to be pedestrian-friendly")
The damaged sections of Jalan Jati will be repaired, after the remaining canopies have been removed.
CITY HALL plans to “pedestrianise” Jalan Jati in the City, once all the structures put up in the common areas have been removed by the company which used to manage the stretch.A spokeswoman for the agency’s Architect and Special Projects Department said the firm’s workers had gradually been clearing the public space since May, with only the canopies yet to be dismantled.
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“We last evaluated the progress of these efforts during a meeting with the company’s personnel in the middle of September,” she said on October 11.
“After the canopies have been taken down, any damage to the marble surface of the road will be repaired before it is blocked off on either end with metal bollards.”
She said vehicles would not be permitted on the stretch which intersects with both Jalan Gaya and Jalan Pantai.
“We want to play up the tourism potential of the road by transforming it into a pedestrian street-of-sorts and have received the greenlight from the Lands and Survey Department (LSD) to do this.”
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The company, that used to manage the stretch, has been gradually been removing its installations over the past few months.
The spokeswoman said the agency was in the process of working together with the LSD to demarcate the boundaries for the stretch.
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“We are hoping to springboard off the Sunday Market and Api-Api Night Market on Jalan Gaya to bring a similar urban revitalisation to Jalan Jati nearby.
“The Mayor is set to hold talks to this end with various sectors of the community.”
She said the Mayor hoped to solicit ideas and feedback from stakeholders and non-governmental organisations on how City Hall might improve the road.
A spokesman for the agency’s Engineering Department said action was being taken to “uplift the appearance” of the road.
“We are trying to spruce up the ‘pencahayaan (illumination)’ here at night by adding decorative lights,” he said.
“Some funding has been allocated for this beautification initiative and the Department is presently looking over potential designs for the new amenities.
“Besides Jalan Jati, we also hope to refurbish the lights in the central business district, especially those along the main and protocol roads.”
He said the latter included parts of Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman and Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens.
The spokesman said City Hall intended to phase out conventional bulbs there in stages, as part of its green action plan.
“We want to replace them with light-emitting diodes (LEDs). We are starting in the City-Centre.
“The same will later be done for those lights in the rest of our rating areas.”
A Luyang driver hopes City Hall will consider repositioning the parking lots around Damai Plaza Phase 4 to a slant.
Both spokespeople were responding to a query from a Manggatal resident about the activities being carried out in the T-junction area of Jalan Jati.
SUNIL said he frequently passed the road when he drove into the State Capital.
“Over the past few months, I have noticed workers dismantling many of the fixtures which were erected in the space between the two rows of shops here,” he said.
He said a lot of these structures were associated with the out-door pub which used to operate at the center of the T-junction.
“The public could previously sit around and have a drink, while listening to live music, but this area has long ceased to be the entertainment hub it was.”
Sunil got the impression that the area was going to be put to some alternative use and wanted to know what the local authorities hoped to do there when it reopened.
“Some of the older shopkeepers here told me that, decades ago, vehicles used to move up and down the road.
“They feel that their business might pick up if this was allowed again.”
Meanwhile, City Hall is still weighing up a Luyang motorist’s suggestion on how to improve the flow of traffic in Damai Plaza Phase 4.
The driver hopes the agency will consider modifying angle of the parking lots as he feels that this might minimise the congestion which occurs in this part of the commercial centre.
It takes only one car reversing into these parking lots here for a bad jam to form in Damai Plaza Phase 4.
City Hall was made aware of his idea in March but, as of October 11, had yet to indicate whether the changes he is
asking for were likely to be implemented.
When asked about the seven-month delay, a spokesman for the agency’s Transport and Traffic Department declined to comment.
“We will have to determine the feasibility of re-angling the parking bays around the shopping blocks in Phase 4,” he said.
“A study of the traffic flow here will have to be made and feedback from the unit-owners and management company for the property will also have been to be obtained, before we can decide how best to proceed.”
NICK of Luyang said motorists had a tendency to reverse into the parking spaces on the road around Damai Plaza Phase 4.
“Almost nine out of 10 drivers do this which slows down the flow of vehicles here,” he said.
“This occasionally causes traffic to bank up all the way to the traffic lights on the main road leading to the property.”
He has noticed that it only took a
single car reversing to bring traffic around the shops to a complete halt while one was waiting to exit to the roundabout.
“The parking bays on the left side of the road for the commercial area should be changed into slanting lots to allow motorists to drive straight into them.”Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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