Crossing Cambodia

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Walking

The government has designated Street 130 as the number 1 street for tourists to walk along between the nearly renovated Central Market and the Mekong Riverside. The four lane road has been made less wide with broad sidewalks and a green central divider. See the picture below.


A good example of the government trying to stimulate (and protect) the most vulnerable of traffic users, pedestrians.
Why on earth no one walks in this city is beyond CC.
But good intentions aren't enough, what happens then is that the wider sidewalk is used for parking of cars and motorcycles, not only by small businesses but also by the phone company Beeline. Thank you.


Street 130, walk if you dare. Extra space intended for public use, used by businesses and through-way clogged up by cars and moto's.

Sihanouk Boulevard: looks nice but is at odds with function. Potentially dangerous?

In spite of that effort it seems the walking street will be the lower part of Sihanouk Boulevard. The past two years has slowly seen the street evolve from small shops selling everything to modern air-co shops selling high-end goods. Naturally these poor citizens can't be expected to walk and certainly not to cross the road.
The amount of detail shown in street 130 is completely devoid on this section where they have replaced the divider of cement blocks by a meter high fence with no gaps.


In the light of last years Diamond Bridge catastrophe one could actually question why this sectioning of the road will not possibly result in another. The crowds which wander up and down the Boulevard during the Boat Racing period are tremendous, and one can foresee problems. But is it just me?

How to cross the road?
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