Reflections on the Lack of Traffic Planning in Macau: A Little Enlightenment from the Air Corridor of Avenida Keymaras｜Submission #04

Author: Victor9104 (passer A who recently finally found a full-time job after returning to Australia after graduating from a master's degree during the epidemic)

The Myth of Traffic Planning in Macau

In Macau, when people think of the word "traffic planning", they naturally only think of the movement of vehicles. Just as recently, the Public Works Bureau, in disregard of the voices of the people, plans to relocate ten ancient trees in Zhuojia Village to open up the Kemaras Avenue, just for the sake of vehicles. Easy to travel. In addition to opening roads and widening traffic lanes, traffic planning issues such as parking space supply and public transportation services are actually thought of as “cars”.

However, "people" themselves are also part of the transportation system, so transportation planning should not only manage vehicles, but it is also very important to rationalize the relationship between people and vehicles. In the final analysis, as a person living in the city, whether it is for vehicles or pedestrians, the transportation facilities are all used by "people".

Since we mentioned the main road of Kimaras, let’s talk about the construction process, the road traffic is chaotic and the construction period is super long, and the air corridor of the main road of Kimaras (hereinafter referred to as the air corridor) may be expanded in the future. During the years-long construction process, its effectiveness has been questioned, the design has been changed again and again, and the construction has caused a lot of noise and air pollution.

What is the concept behind this air corridor, which has been criticized for a long time and even considered a waste of public funds, and its actual use, as well as the enlightenment for the construction of related pedestrian facilities in the future?

The deep meaning of the separation of people and vehicles (layered)

Danish architect Jan Gehl mentioned that from the 1950s to the 1970s[Note 1], for the development of traffic, road engineering mainly considered how to prevent pedestrian accidents and increase the capacity of the road, so pedestrian tunnels or footbridges were set up to solve the problem. problem, but later found out that this is only used when pedestrians have no choice.

The so-called "no choice" means that there are obstacles on both sides of the road preventing pedestrians from crossing the road, or there is a lot of traffic and the speed of the vehicle is fast. At this time, the pedestrian bridge has become the final solution to ensure that pedestrians can cross the road safely without hindering the traffic flow.

As a result, pedestrians who want to cross the road legally and safely to the other side have to "go up and down" (increase the distance) to meet the demand. In this way, when people and vehicles are in two different parallel time and space of traffic, a large number of pedestrians and urban activities are completely isolated, and the streets become boring. [Note 2] These relate to the activity density of the street itself. When the activity density is high, the street can provide pedestrians with a changing experience. [Note 3]

Stephen Graham [Note 4] also mentioned the "three-dimensional city" developed in the post-war reconstruction of the United Kingdom, which separates people and vehicles. Among them, vehicles are freed from the intervention of passers-by, making people feel that the presence of pedestrians is itself hindering the smooth passage of vehicles, and Graham also mentioned that critics of this urban structure also doubt the use of elevated pedestrian corridors in the UK. Construction, in fact, just wants to remove people (on the street) from the surge of vehicles, and see in the example of the corridor city in the United States:

 "Street level can easily become a place of 'remains' - barren and deadly commercial."

In short, traffic construction such as air corridors is only a product of meeting the needs of vehicles, as Gehl [Note 5] mentioned that when more roads are built to relieve traffic congestion, it will create more traffic and traffic jams.

In the author's master's thesis[Note 6], some interviewees also pointed out that it is not a humane thing to continuously build pedestrian bridges just by saying "separation of people and vehicles". Macau does the opposite.

The interviewee also believes that although the original intention of establishing the air corridor includes the reasons for pedestrians to obey the rules and ensure the safety of pedestrians, the idea behind it is to hope that the traffic flow is smooth.

Because there are actually other main roads near Kimaras Avenue that can share traffic, or set up traffic lights to enhance pedestrian safety, but the government chose to spend a lot of money to build an air corridor, but instead it became to accommodate the smooth passage of vehicles. Pedestrians spend more time using air corridors (adding to the inconvenience), and there is nothing to please pedestrians along the way.

Respondents questioned whether such separation of people and vehicles is necessary, and also believed that the government has not actually considered how to deal with the problem of too many vehicles. However, the so-called "smooth traffic flow" may not really be the case. The interviewees pointed out that the entrances and exits of the air corridor at the intersection and the bridge pillars that separate the island can easily lead to blind spots for vehicles, and drivers in disguised form need to drive slowly to observe the road conditions.

What actually happened in and around the air corridor

Nearly a year after the opening of the air corridor, the number of users is not small, but it is "forced" to a certain extent. In order to promote more people to use the air corridor, the government has made Kimalas large when it is opened. All zebra crossings on the road are deleted, and only the zebra crossings on the lateral road are retained at each intersection.

And some pedestrians probably walk on the air corridor, in order to avoid having to cross the zebra crossing again when they land, they will walk directly in the air corridor for a while before leaving at the entrance and exit near the destination (at least the author will).

When the author used the air corridor at night, I saw people exercising above. This was also a function that escaped the intended use. Just like the new port pond rest area, there are different residents who use the road for daily commuting. Can also be used for sports.

Given the small size of Macau and the lack of urban recreational space, this kind of function seems reasonable and can be regarded as a kind of "making the best use of things"?

As for whether the air corridor makes driving smoother, it does not. Although it does make the driving speed a little faster without giving way to pedestrians, it is only a little bit.

Considering that the author has been delivering food part-time in Taipa district in recent months, and has cycled through Avenida de Kemalas N times at least five days a week, he often drives slowly because his sight is easily obstructed when turning (which is exactly what the interviewee mentioned above). arrived). Motorcycles are fine. In many cases, private cars need to drive a little further to check. After all, the fish glasses installed at each intersection may not be able to see clearly, and then cause road blocking.

For drivers like me, the so-called smoother traffic flow doesn't really mean much. Maybe the data is fast, and sometimes the somatosensory is not much different from the ordinary zebra crossing. In addition, the total length of Kimalas Avenue is only about 500 meters, and there are four intersections not counting the roundabouts at both ends, and each of the intersections with very short distances often have vehicles entering and leaving, and in fact, it is not much faster.

"Separation of people and vehicles" in the air corridor: unnecessary

In the conclusion of the paper, the author mentioned that the air corridor lacks good interaction with the function of the plane street where it is located[Note 7]. In fact, this is a "result", and the cause of this phenomenon is related to the number of activity opportunities provided by the road itself.

Assuming that there are many shops on the main road of Kimalas, the buildings are all podium shopping malls and reserved spaces are connected to the air corridors. In this case, the author believes that the air corridor can play more role, even if the disadvantage of "separation of people and vehicles" is relatively obvious.

In reality, apart from connecting to the light rail station at the southern end, the actual air corridor only has entrances and exits connecting various intersections and the Central Park parking lot, and there are actually not many shops on the road. In addition to the transfer of pedestrian activity demand (movement, crossing) after the opening, it generally did not have a significant impact on the changes in road surface activities on both sides of Kimalas Avenue.

If we compare the above assumptions and reality from the perspective of "separation of people and vehicles", we will find that the former is more like the three-dimensional city or "isolated urban activity" discussed by other scholars; the latter is the government's desire to reduce the radiation effect of light rail Enlargement, while ensuring pedestrian safety and smooth traffic flow, but not thinking about the need to connect blocks and the existing space configuration is a bit "superfluous". It doesn't make pedestrians any more pleasant in terms of street activity, and it doesn't really make driving smoother.

In the end, although it has a certain practicality, it feels like "the wrong thing was built in the wrong place", and the awkward situation of both sides is not thankful. [Note 8]

Things to think about in future related construction

To be honest, the author is not very optimistic about the future development of Macau's pedestrian system.

Although there are actually some pedestrian systems that meet the needs of the public, such as the Songshan Cheokong Pavilion elevator system, the Songshan pedestrian tunnel, and the escalator in the sloping alley, but after all, the Macau government basically uses the "engineering thinking" to deal with things. Discouraged) Consider the pros and cons of constructing certain transport facilities from a practical humanistic perspective.

The air corridor and the other examples mentioned above only "just" played some roles, but it is not necessarily that other areas in Macau have to "cook bowls" to provide similar facilities, just as the proposed Seac Pai Wan community leads to Coloane Heights. There are still many people who hold different opinions on the elevator system at the top of the building and the plan of the air corridor of the Northeast Avenue in the Macau Peninsula.

On the other hand, there are also many Macau people who have been "trained" to have a mentality, that is, when they know that there are certain proposed projects, they will only think of the impression of huge public funds, transfer of benefits, and chaotic road traffic during the construction period, and oppose the construction of the project. Therefore, in the context of the development of "green transportation", the existence value of these facilities and the role they can play are ignored.

As a result, it is often only after it is completed and becomes a real and usable transportation facility that actual opinions can be given on the aforementioned existence value and function. Well, if the facility is "tasteless", it can't be easily demolished and it can only be accepted.

Conclusion: Implications for Problem Solving

The conclusion of the above problems is the lack of consultation and the promotion of related concepts. The government, which currently dominates transportation construction, still needs to change its attitude of not wanting (?) public participation.

In the final analysis, whether it is the government or non-governmental organizations, they should cultivate a humanistic mindset and focus on the deep-seated demands of the residents.

annotation:

Note 1: Gehl, J. (2017b) The City of People, translated by Chen Chaoxing. New Taipei: Creating Yongtang Culture.

Note 2: Gehl, J. (2017a) Between Architecture: Life in Public Space, translated by Chen Chaoxing. New Taipei: Creating Yongtang Culture.

Note 3: Yu Xuanzhun (2020) How Cities Work: 15 Views on Cities from the Humanities, translated by Qiu Linxiang. Taipei: The Art Collection Family.

Note 4: Graham S. (2020) The world is vertical: From satellites, skyscrapers to underground tunnels, a vertical analysis of the social and political power relations in the city through layered space, translated by Gao Yuting and Wang Zhihong. Taipei: Facebook.

Note 5: Same as Note 1

Note 6: https://hdl.handle.net/11296/36k37t

Note 7: Same as Note 6

Note 8: If you really want to connect to the light rail station, the author thinks it is enough to cover the circular ground of the sports field...

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