The opinion letter by Frustrated Commuter, ‘Car park near school may be the answer’, published in the Bulletin on March 2, 2024, is both spot on and calls for a deep and strategic physical planning soul-searching.
Naturally, when planning has gone awry and failed to provide an effective traffic and spatial manoeuvrability, no amount of quick fixes and improvisation can offer a lasting solution. If we care to be exhaustive, the traffic problem is not only confined to Kampong Jangsak but almost a typical one in school areas along the main road.
Is it a coincidence that many of our schools are located right in front of main roads? Or is it a result of improper planning or ineffectual enforcement of rules and regulations?
Of course, some school, originally well-placed away from the main road, are now caught up in rapid development and end up with the same infamous traffic congestion. But, in whatever situation schools are in, there is no running away from basic right planning consideration, both medium and long terms. Where schools occupy buildings, originally constructed for different purposes, any concomitant issue remains the responsibility of the planning and licence issuance authority to reassess.
There must be some fundamentals of good planning for schools, as much as for other developments. For schools, be they in isolated or busy areas, their intrinsic crowd of children and visiting parents, on a daily basis, requires ample space, not only for school building and its surrounding, but for car park and traffic holding area, all within the school compound.
Traffic accessibility roads, into and out of school premises, must be inherently wider and away from the main road. Spaces for future extension, reconfiguration or additional facilities must be identified in advance as part of a long-term plan. As a matter of cause, the school building, its compound and service roads are in such a position that must not allow any possible overflow of traffic or crowd into the main road.
Such requirements may be too ideal for every school, especially those already caught up in rapid development in their surroundings or those rented premises operating as school under licence. But the significance of proper planning for schools is not lost on everyone.
First and foremost, the planning authority, in any future school establishment, must seek optimal efforts to avoid known errors or short-sightedness, especially in the provision of expansion, spatial manoeuvrability and capacity to anticipate issues related to future development in the surrounding.
The same consideration holds true for any rented premise to be used as a school before the issuance of operating licence. The capacity of main road must be of high specifications to accommodate development on both sides. Where a current main road is too small, massive fixes to relieve problems, such as traffic congestion, road safety, pedestrian crossing and other related hazards, must be anticipated and addressed. The authority must review all rented premises used as schools, especially those along main roads, to determine their respective contribution to the ongoing traffic chaos and the ways to improve the situation, if redeemable. Otherwise, their numbers need to be trimmed down, and some designated for relocation.
Planning afresh is a common practice in many countries. It shows that one is able to plan with optimal freedom in areas where hindrances are minimal or absent. In such situations, one can plan on ideal terms to deliver state-of-the-art development. This sort of opportunity must be sought to establish new areas of development, where schools, for instance, can be strategically placed and developed in high-spec road networks. By way of such new development areas, old and over-crowded zones can be given a reprieve through relocation.
The emphasis has to be on systematic soul-searching in planning and law enforcement than mere fixes and improvisation. By nature, wrongs can easily become endemic if not corrected timely and substantively. Quick fixes often address symptoms and not the root cause. While they serve as immediate reprieve, proper planning remains the best option in reaching a better and lasting resolution.
Jerantut
