MRT Pusat Bandar Damansara

The basic details:

MRT Pusat Bandar Damansara
Line: Kajang	Station code: SBK13
Ground level: 54.0m	Platform level: ~70m (TBC)
Bike parking: No	Lifts: Yes
Location:	Google maps

This station has some fundamental problems.

For a start, it is built at the bottom of a hill, with the MRT line at a high level. The separation between the train and ground level is huge (15-20m). Many passengers alighting here want to access places up the hill, so when they come down from the station, they immediately have to start walking up again. This is a fundamental design failure. We'll come to some solutions later.

 

Long escalators and flights of stairs to get down to ground level.   No bike barking, so people chain their bikes up against the fence.  A glimmer of hope: some Beam scooters parked here.

      

Heading up the steep Jalan Maarof.  Many bikers choose to push - if there was a convenient cycle path, without obstructions, would it encourage cycling?

Welcomed to the top of the hill by a kerb and plastic barrier.

 

Secondly, a point about ongoing works. This station is next to Pavillion Damansara which has been under construction for several years already. The station will be connected to the development by a bridge at some point, but for now, there is no connection. This kind of thing happens a lot in KL - a bad arrangement is put in place 'temporarily' but this actually lasts a long time. City developments in other capitals will be required to phase their works to ensure smooth and convenient access into the station from all directions throughout the construction programme, but not so in KL. Non-vehicular access gets pushed aside - it's at the bottom of the priority list.

 
See what this does to people who are just trying to walk to the MRT or around the area:

Those people are forced to walk on the road directly into oncoming traffic (traffic that is coming round a corner, too). 

It gets crazier than this (if that's possible) - there is a shuttle bus to take workers from the MRT station to their offices on the other side of the construction site.  Because the road network in this area consists of a giant one-way loop, when they want to get the bus back from their office to the MRT station a few hundred metres away (as the crow flies), it takes about 15 minutes in the bus as it winds its way around the jammed one-way system. 

So what can be done about this?  There are lots of easy wins.  Some cheap, some more costly (in order).

• Create a secure bike parking area beneath the station to encourage bike use
• Set up an agreement between Beam (scooters) and the station operator to maintain a decent number of scooters parked under the station and promote scooters
• Create a smooth bicycle/ scooter path up the hill (Jalan Maarof) - add some drop kerbs and remove other obstructions
• Implement a network of pedestrian crossings and footways around the area.   Walking should be prioritised and the area under the station is crying out for some pedestrian crossings and pavements
• Create a long ramp/bridge from the station concourse directly towards BSC at the top of the hill (Jalan Maarof).  See below.

This would be a pedestrian, cycle and scooter bridge, taking you from part-way down the hill straight into the station concourse.  No more 'going down to go up' and vice versa.

The bridge would probably be about 100m long, 2.5m wide, and require three or four columns (no steps, please).  This would be a tiny structure compared to the huge viaducts and ramps being erected all over the Klang Valley for the convenience of drivers. 

It would be convenient for residents of Menara Bangsar, too.  Perhaps this would smooth the way for construction access in the corner of the condo to get the columns built.

There is also an obvious opening in the side of the station where the bridge would join the concourse. 

The obvious point for the bridge to connect into the station.

These ideas could be taken further with a bit of imagination - perhaps the bridge could take a striking form and become symbol of the Bangsar/ Damansara border.  Other bridges towards Bukit Damansara might also be useful - creating a network of  'canopy walks' suspended over the area.