Jatinegara Barat Footbridge Set as Top Priority for Construction

A proposal to construct a pedestrian bridge (JPO) on Jalan Raya Jatinegara Barat was a key highlight during the Development Planning Forum (Musrenbang) in Balimester Urban Village, East Jakarta.

This bridge must be prioritized and realized immediately

SDN Balimester 03 and 06 Principal, Fauzie stated that the overpass is urgently needed for student safety. He noted that a majority of the students live in the Jatinegara Barat low-cost rental apartments (Rusunawa) in Kampung Melayu, located directly across the busy thoroughfare.

"The construction of this bridge must be prioritized and realized immediately. It is a pressing matter, as many of our students reside in the public housing area across the road," he expressed, Thursday (2/13).

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He pointed out that traffic on Jalan Raya Jatinegara Barat is chronically congested, with vehicles often speeding through the area. He revealed that in 2024 and 2025, two students were involved in accidents while commuting to school after being sideswiped by cars.

"One of the victims even required medical treatment at Hermina Hospital," he explained.

He added that student crossings during the morning rush often lead to traffic snarls. Currently, SDN Balimester 03 and 06 serve a combined total of 867 students.

Jatinegara Sub-district Head, Endang Kartika confirmed that the footbridge (JPO) proposal would be treated as a top priority at the district level and escalated to city-level discussions.

"We will deliberate on this during the district-level Musrenbang and make it a priority given the pressing need for such a facility," she stated.

Balimester Urban Village Head, Mardian Triyanto added that the forum deliberated on 24 proposals—comprising 21 infrastructure projects and three requests for equipment.

The breakdown includes nine submissions for the Water Resources Sub-agency, eight for the Public Works Sub-agency, four for Transportation Sub-agency, two for Social Affairs Sub-agency, and one for Education Sub-agency.

"Physical infrastructure clearly dominates the requests. We hope all these proposals can be implemented, especially the pedestrian bridge on Jalan Raya Jatinegara Barat," he stated.