Monday January 12, 2009
By PRIYA MENON

THE public can expect road diversions beginning from Feb 3 as upgrading work at KL Sentral begins.

Jalan Stesen Sentral 3 is the main road affected due to construction work at Lot G, facing Jalan Tun Sambathan.

The road is now being used by the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) buses, the RapidKL buses and the coupon taxis.

"The inner road, which caters to the buses, will remain open, while the outer road used by the taxis will be closed," said Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad (MRCB) project director Nooraini Mohamad Rashidi.

The Semasa Sentral chief operating officer Roslan Shariff, said the inner and outer lanes now have 10 bays for RapidKL buses and 12 bays for LCCT buses.

Semasa Sentral is the company managing KL Sentral.

"We are shifting five bays for the trunk route of RapidKL buses to Jalan Tun Sambanthan to allow taxis to use the inner road as well," he added.

Nooraini also said traffic in Jalan Tun Sambathan was expected to increase.

Pedestrians using the walkway connecting the Monorail station and KL Sentral have also been asked to use the new covered walkway that goes around Lot G.

"The new walkway is located at the intersection of Jalan Stesen Sentral 3, Jalan Tun Sambathan and Jalan Tun Sambathan 4," Nooraini said.

She said they would be putting special tiles and railings for the blind to access the new pathway with ease as well.

"We have briefed the Brickfields community as well and they seem receptive to the idea. We are concerned about the blind people who make up the majority of the community," she added.

Old: The pedestrian walkway that cuts across Lot G will be closed for construction work.

She said in order to help the commuters adapt to the changes, extra information counters and police beat bases would be opened for enquiries and complaints.

Nooraini said MRCB is also looking into the possibility of making Jalan Tun Sambathan a one-way road and would submit the plans to the Kuala Lumpur City Hall to be reviewed.

Brickfields RT chairman S.K.K Naidu, however, believes that more can be done to improve the congestion in Jalan Tun Sambathan.

"The road is already busy at present. In fact, we are the ones who moved the buses inside and now its being brought out again. This is going to worsen traffi congestion," he said.

He said MRCB, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall and the Brickfields community should have an open discussion and draw out a new plan.

Naidu, however, said the changes should have been done after making Jalan Tun Sambathan a one-way street.

The construction work for Lot G, which is now being used as a carpark and pedestrian walkway, is expected to be completed in 2015.

The building plans include a retail mall, office towers and a new hotel to cater to the increasing number of commuters.

A covered pathway for monorail users will be extended all the way into the new building that will also be connected to KL Sentral.

"This covered pathway will be air-conditioned and will serve the 65,000 people who are expected to use the station by 2030," she added.

The car park will also include four basements with more than 3,200 parking bays.

This article is a verbatim copy of the original article from The Star.