[sustran] Re: Lessons to learn? 'Delays mire U.S. road project in Aceh ' (From the New York Times of 8 Oct. 06)

[Robert Cowherd]

Eric, 

Thanks for putting this out there.

The most telling quote of Perlez¹s piece is the Montana Highway-man¹s
(Ventura) comment that ³The road itself is no different to anyplace in the
world.² Having spent considerable time on roads in Montana and in Aceh,
including what¹s left of the road to Calang, I find it instructive to
consider the similarities and differences.

Decades after the social function of American main streets was displaced by
higher speeds, and dissipated with the relocation of residents and
businesses out of town, the loss of this social function is now taken for
granted socially and culturally as being part of a ³natural² progression up
the developmental ladder. Those of us engaged in struggles to re-establish
vibrant socially supportive downtown environments do not take this loss for
granted and are reminded daily of the widespread mentality that has accepted
and even embraced this loss. Ventura might retort along the lines of omelets
and breaking eggs (joining Stalin and Rumsfeld) to dismiss the negative
impacts of America¹s road-building legacy, but he would do well to look at
what his native Bozeman is doing to mitigate the damage of street widening,
a bypass freeway, and a paired one-way traffic road pattern.

When I was facilitating a pilot village mapping and village planning process
in post-tsunami Banda Aceh, one of the biggest threats to our process was
the JICA (Japanese International Cooperation Agency) plan to widen the ³main
street² easement of Deah Glumpang from 3.5 meters to a 20 meters I found
myself making the point that the village might some day recover from the
tsunami but it would never recover from the JICA road. Fortunately, our
suggestion to relocate the road to serve as a replacement for the lost
Dutch-era breakwater was taken up as the preferred alignment.

Similarly, the social function of the west coast road in Aceh survived the
Tsunami even where the physical road itself and 85 percent of the population
did not. The American coastal road built Montana-style will end this with
stunning finality. The members of this list are no doubt well-armed with the
design features of a road that would both provide mobility and maintain the
social function of the village ³main streets.²

One would hope that even if USAID-Indonesia misses the boat on how to take
advantage of these opportunities, someone will point out prior to opening
the road to traffic that, despite Mr. Ventura¹s assertion that the road is
the same as anywhere else, Indonesian¹s drive on the left.

Robert Cowherd, Associate Professor, Wentworth Institute of Technology
Volunteer with Forum Bangun Aceh
Boston, Massachusetts



On 10/9/06 9:30 AM, "Eric Britton" <eric.britton at ecoplan.org> wrote:

> I would like to invite comments on this piece that appeared in yesterday¹s New
> York Times, which to my mind in hugely rich with lessons that we all will do
> very poorly indeed to ignore. The peice suggests some of the contradictions,
> but really should have scratched further, because none of these are accidents.
> They are part of a greater whole that we will do well to understand, not only
> in rural countryside¹s in the Global South, but also in the streets and roads
> of the so-called Œdeveloped nations¹.
>  
> Here are the first couple of thoughts that come to mind that I hope will serve
> to stir you to more and better:
>  
> 1. One of the great problems that the Old Mobility folk (and if that is not
> clear may I invite you to check into the Old Mobility section of the New
> Mobility Advisory/Briefs ­ you will find it if you click to
> http://www.oldmobility.newmobility.org/ ) have with the challenges of human
> beings and social complexity, as opposed to the nice smooth world of vehicle
> throughput and its kissing cousin speed, is that straight lines, heavy loads
> and higher speeds are not necessarily the best solution to the problems of a
> complex democratic society.
>  
> 2. The assumption of the experts and ultimately the politicians and
> administrators who made up this entire project is that the old US model is
> what ³these people¹ need.  A quarter of a billion taxpayer dollars (hey,
> that¹s MY money) buying them (whether they want it or not) a Œhigh standard¹
> US road at a million dollars a kilometer (please, try to imagine what could be
> done with this money if the real problems and priorities had been addressed!
> But no, let¹s start with our solution and who cares about the problem. Eh?  Oh
> how heavy it is the White Man¹s Burden. (Did anyone think to explain to them
> that it¹s 2006 and the rules of the game have changed?)
>  
> 3. What strikes me in the first place and above all is that the right road
> under these circumstances would NEVER go in a straight line. For all kinds of
> reasons. 
>  
> n      First, it ignores the social and cultural topography, something that is
> every bit as important in any society as the physical landscape. All those
> signals that the protesting locals are giving are in fact part of the
> solution, not part of the problem.
>  
> n      Second, straight lines inevitably induce speed. So out they go. We need
> to design roads that will both accommodate basic needs and ensure the well
> being of all those whom it is intended to serve.
>  
> n      Third, a high speed road induces the kid of rolling stock that takes
> advantage of the potential for high speed and heavy loads. But is that what we
> really want and need in this and thousands of other contexts ­ and not only in
> rural communities of the Third World.
>  
> n      Fourth, lower speeds ­ much lower speeds in fact, and I would need to
> hear some convincing arguments indeed for designing such roads to accommodate
> more than 30 kph speeds ­ permit the road to accommodate many of its
> traditional economic and social roles. Vendors including of local produce,
> tire and vehicle repair, and of courses all kinds of walkers who are not only
> numerous but very important. And all this on the streets of New York City or
> serving people and the economy in Aceh!
>  
> 4. A good road will serve the full range of social roels and needs. In poorer
> countries in this new and one would dearly like to think more aware century,
> the favored transportation should be what most people can afford ­ human
> powered means, for both personal and goods traffic. You can design and build
> for that and while I am not an engineer I bet that you can get a lot more than
> a kilometer of such appropriate roads for a million dollars than just one.
>  
> At this point let me get out of the way and invite you to read on. But once
> you have had your look, I would like to invite you to have a look at a few
> videos that we have set aside for your attention in this context only this
> morning. It¹s pretty simple stuff by way of presentation, but the messages are
> anything but. To get to them, please click to http://newmobilitybriefs.org
> <http://newmobilitybriefs.org/> , then on the left menu The Challenge/Old
> Mobility videos ­you¹ll see.
>  
> And now your comments?
>  
> Eric Britton
>  


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