It was a sad day when Brickfields went one-way on 3 August 2010.
I've always lived in or relatively near to Brickfields so have got to know it well over the years. And I've seen many changes. The biggest one was the development of KL Sentral. It's made life easy for me to get the airport bus. But Sentral is still growing and I wonder when it will stop. There are so many 'skyscrapers' now.
The worst thing was when Brickfields went one-way.
The traffic jams were horrendous and it was complete chaos. Large vehicles trying to get down small roads, 4 lanes trying to squeeze into 1 in places, and pedestrians including the blind trying to cross 4 lanes of traffic. I surprised there wasn't more noise in the press about the jams.
And another sad day was when I realised the famous Pines row had been demolished. I hadn't realised this was going to happen until I saw the land was totally bare. Apparently this will be a multi-storey carpark and the new Pines Restaurants.
Having got caught in several horrendous traffic jams in Brickfields, at different times of the day and evening, and one especially bad one at 12.30am before Deepavali, I now totally avoid Brickfields. I would prefer to drive extra mileage than go through Bfields. The only time that I will go now is on a Sat afternoon or a Sunday when I know I can still park easily.
Today, a Sunday I went to take some photos. It was relatively quiet and I could cross the roads easily. The Deepavali stalls had gone, and at 10am the pavements were empty and free from stalls.
I was sad to see that the green with the magnificent trees at the Sri Kota traffic lights has now been concreted over. This is now the Lorong Chan Ah Tong hawker centre. It used to be a place for locals to play football and enjoy some open green space. But I noticed that Ah Goh has a small shop here, this used to be one of the restaurants at the Pines row.
The elephant fountain is in the centre of the road at the Sri Kota junction, surrounded by what is kindly described as a mini park. The fountain is known as the tallest Malaysian elephant fountain. Are there any others - I don't know of any?!
There is an abundance of ornate lamp posts, and a Little India Gateway on the road leading to Jalan Bangsar.
The main road from Sri Kota to KFC is lined with colourful arches. The whole image is rather gaudy, and I wonder how long the paint will last in Malaysia's tropical weather.
The small lane by Joy supermarket is now a row of small shops. The corner shop opposite, next to the pet shop has been demolished and a new glass fronted building is coming up.
making roti
I wrongly thought part of the purpose of the road changes were to ease the traffic problems, by making the roads wider etc, but this hasn't happened, especially with all the arches. And I wonder how long the plants in the centre of the roads will last, as pedestrians have to step on them to cross the road.
One road has been made contraflow, which I found quite unnerving when I was walking along the road - there were no pavements so I was forced to walk in the road and had to avoid getting run down by cars coming the 'wrong' way.
I came back to KL on the LCCT bus on the eve of Deepavali. The access roads to KL Sentral were closed and the bus had to do a major detour to get into Sentral from the Bangsar side. I was a bit stunned that the roads to Malaysia's main transport hub had been closed. And then of course the taxi home had to take a major detour.
The Indian and Malaysian Prime Ministers launched the first phase of the Little India project on Oct 27 2010.
Even the 30-year-old Brickfields District Police headquarters won't be spared. It will be relocated to the Sri Petaling station to make way for high-rise development - a multi-storey complex. The police accommodation blocks across the road have been empty for some time. People feel that with the closure of the police station, crime will increase. Apparently snatch thefts are already on the increase (though with the chaotic traffic jams I don't see how any motorbike thief can get away!!!).
We'll just have to wait and see what Phase 2 brings, and if the traffic situation ever improves.
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An interesting piece on Harakah, and part 2.
© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission
Thanks for reporting. I have not been to Brickfield lately. All these changes ? Better don't go there by car, eah.
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