The new overpass is slowly making its way along Wolter Monginsidi. This is the elevated busway that will become Transjakarta’s Ciledug–Tendean corridor, built on concrete pylons straight down the middle of the road. For a couple of years the whole of Kebayoran Baru lived with the cranes, the lane closures and the dust, which is roughly the deal Jakarta offers in return for any piece of infrastructure. The street underneath carried on regardless — the shophouses, the warungs, the ojek drivers — and everyone learned to look up.
Shot from the footpath, the pylons marching off into the haze. There is something about a half-built flyover that photographs better than a finished one: the geometry is all there and none of the traffic is. I went back the following Sunday for an evening set along the same street, which is here. The busway opened in 2017 and the street has gone back to being merely busy.
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