Monday May 13, 2013
Pedestrian bridge may go State thinking of having ground crossing instead
By CHRISTINA CHIN
sgchris@thestar.com.my
THE Penang government is conducting a public survey on whether to demolish the Komtar overhead pedestrian bridge.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the trend in many cities was to have a ground pedestrian crossing.
“This overhead bridge, which has been here for over 20 years, is not heavily utilised.
“On average, 5,000 pedestrians use the bridge daily but the number of people crossing the road is higher,” he said.
He added that the bridge was not accessible to the disabled community and senior citizens.
He said the state government would get feedback from the people before deciding whether to tear the structure down.
“It (demolishing) would make a big difference to George Town,” he told a press conference at the bridge on Friday.
He said although CCTVs had been installed on the bridge, “unhealthy activities like vice” were still going on at night.
“We want to make crossing safer and more accessible,” he said.
Komtar assemblyman Teh Lai Heng, who was present, said a month-long survey would be conducted by the Penang Municipal Council.
“The council will issue notices to the property owners living nearby and also conduct an online survey on its website (from tomorrow to June 13).
“Meanwhile, Think City, the secretariat for BIDs (Business Improve- ment District Scheme), will also be doing its own survey on the suitability of the structure,” he said.
He added that both the MPPP and Think City surveys would be studied before any decision was made.
In March 2011, the Penang Government announced that it would adopt the BIDs to rejuvenate the inner city.
“We have called for tenders to liven up the bridge by setting up kiosks and stalls three times before, but there were no takers and we were unable to increase its (the bridge) usage.
“Through the years, many senior citizens have also complained about the inconvenience and impracticality of using the bridge,” he said.
Asked if it would be wasteful of public funds to remove the structure, Teh said what was more important was to make crossing the busy roads convenient and safe for everyone.
If demolished, a traffic light control pedestrian crossing would be the alternative to the bridge, he said.
In 2010, former Komtar assemblyman Ng Wei Aik (now Tanjong MP) said the state wanted the bridge to come alive with street performers and kiosks selling Penang products and souvenirs.
Ng had said that activities needed to be carried out on the bridge as a feng shui master had told him that Komtar would only come alive if the bridge was “recharged with vigour and vitality”.
He added that another feng shui master had complained that the bridge brought ‘suey’ (bad luck in Hokkien) to Komtar and local tra-ders.
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