Sunday, March 25, 2012

Jalan Sultan and realignment

Just in case you miss out, MRT Corp released a report about the controversial acquisition and realignment. It is accessible at MRT website.

The main content of the report includes background and overview, final alignment, land acquisition, social and environmental impact and continuous engagement.

(KVMRT) would only highlight the issue on final alignment and land acquisition for the interest of public.

The final alignment was determined using a three step process:-

Step 1: The first step is the establishment of fixed points along the corridor in which the MRT alignment must serve. These are major developments, centres of activity and landmarks. These points are densely populated areas, activity centres such as the Central Business District, shopping centers or office blocks or areas where there is potential future growth.

Step 2: Secondly, the alignment has to connect these fixed points. To arrive at the best alignment, a balance of six factors are given due consideration:-

 Social impact to be minimized

 Land acquisition to be minimized

 Journey time to be optimized

 Constructability (taking into consideration technical and ground conditions)

 Integration with existing and future public transport networks

 Ridership to be maximized and stations to be easily accessible

Step 3: Changes following public feedback gathering process.

Final alignment at Jalan Sultan/Jalan Petaling

The final alignment in the Jalan Sultan/Jalan Petaling area was determined using the three-step process described above.

The first step was the establishment of fixed points which the MRT alignment must serve. In this case the fixed points were the Pasar Seni LRT Station and future development at the former Merdeka Stadium and Stadium Negara area.

Pasar Seni LRT Station was identified as a fixed point because it will be the interchange point between the new MRT line and the existing Kelana Jaya LRT system. This integration point is crucial because it will enable users of the LRT system to change to the MRT and viceversa without needing to walk too far. Commuters will hop from one network to another without having to buy new tickets.

Another fixed point is the proposed Menara Warisan mixed development project where the present Merdeka Stadium and Stadium Negara are located. It will be a major centre of activity and will house a very large population of office and retail outlet workers.

Convenient access to public transport is critical to cater to such a large number of people and such a high level of activity.

The second step was to ensure that the alignment connected these fixed points taking into account the six factors mentioned above:-

 Social impact would be minimized because the final alignment reduces the number of buildings that need to be acquired for or affected by the project

 Land acquisition is minimised and will only involve government-owned properties namely Pasarama Kota, Plaza Warisan and Plaza UO

 Journey time is optimized because the final alignment is a more direct route

 Constructability along Jalan Sultan is good because the area has suitable soil conditions, no major obstructions, and the alignment managed to avoid tight curves

 The final alignment integrates with the Kelana Jaya LRT line as well as the proposed Warisan Merdeka

 The location of the station at Pasarama Kota is adjacent to the activity center of the Jalan Sultan/Jalan Petaling area thus making the station readily accessible to a major catchment area, thus having good potential ridership

The third step involved public scrutiny of the alignment where feedback was received during the three month period from February 14 to May 14, 2011. During this period, alternative alignments were proposed and these alignments were studied in great depth to find out if they were suitable.













Note: All information above is by MRT Corp. Any usage and copyright issue is not intended to be violated if any.