New Infrastructure Dev't Decried as "Inconvenient" by Locals
It was supposed to make things better, they said.
After 11 years of construction and some 20 years of planning, the Shoupakou Daokou (手帕口道口) underpass finally began operations on Jun 15, welcomed by locals who commemorated the opening by taking photographs.
The construction couldn't come any sooner. After rising levels of train and vehicular traffic led to slower travel times for both, the busy downtown Beijing railway crossing solved all of its problems at once: Cars could drive unimpeded through the former railroad crossing through a new 865-meter-long tunnel built for their exclusive use (shown below), while trains were given the right-of-way on the surface after being completely walled-off.
Chinese reports hailed the development as an improvement to Beijing's transportation infrastructure that relieved traffic pressure of the West Second Ring Road and the Third Ring Road. Now that cars and trains were each given their exclusive channels, Shoupakou Daokou has rectified its dilemma into a "win-win" situation for everyone ... well, almost everyone.
For although Beijing made Shoupakou Daokou a better transportation junction for people passing through, it did so at the expense of the residents who live there and aren't happy with their predicament. And that's all due to another underground passage also unveiled in June. Instead of making things more accessible, it just opened up a can of worms.
Promised to "make things more convenient for locals" by "relieving congestion," the Shoupakou Daokou underground pedestrian passage is a collection of tunnels dug deep below the surface. Similar to other underground walkways, multiple entrances meet at a single passage that traverses the railway above.
Unfortunately, the design of the pedestrian passage has annoyed local residents with a host of problems. Due to the tunnel's length, pedestrians who want to cross a road are forced to walk an extra 1,000 meters. In addition, no elevators or escalators are provided in an underground passage that is several stories deep below the ground.
Instead of calming traffic, the newly-created choke point seems to be an invitation for chaos. With ramps providing wheelchair access, bicyclists and e-bike riders are able to access the tunnels. Two-wheelers are seen racing past pedestrians by the narrowest of margins in order to take advantage of the quickest method through the walled-up junction.
But even if these complaints were shown to be without merit, the design of Shoupakou Daokou's pedestrian passage shows little concern for its users. Even if the passage has to be made deep underground with distant entrances, users are crammed into two-meter-wide hallways and forced to navigate multiple hairpin turns with blind corners.
To get a personal perspective, a video uploaded in Youku showed that a walk from end to end of the Shoupakou Daokou pedestrian walkway takes over four minutes (from 7:44 to 11:49).
With so many problems piling up, the new tunnel has already dug itself a load of criticisms.
However reticent they may be to talk over other matters, Shoupakou Daokou residents have been more than glad to share their complaints when asked about the new tunnel. In a "man-on-the-street" video interview, locals interrupt each other just to say that the underground passage is "inconvenient," "poorly designed," and "at risk for collisions." They say it is not suitable for parents with babies in strollers or for the elderly, complaining that it is "too deep" for something that does not have elevators.
On Weibo, one user complained that "getting rid of one problem has now led to several problems."
Where once there was a single quiet road with parks and big cedar trees, there are now seven streets and no green space.
"Where once there was a single quiet road with parks and big cedar trees, there are now seven streets and no green space," read the complaint.
READ: Mandarin Monday: Navigating Beijing via the City's Color-Coded Road Signs
Some residents have lamented the closure of Shoupakou Daokou as the end of one of Beijing's last remaining great trainspotting venues, but it seems the railway junction has been the source of complaints for years.
Before the new tunnel opened in June, local elder Mr. Lin reminisced that the surface crossing was a daily inconvenience.
"Every day when I pass here, there are a few hundred people waiting to cross every morning rush hour," said Lin. "Sometimes the trains get backed up, and we have to wait for all of them to pass before we can get through."
This time, though, the complaints may be getting through. The same video report that showcased the residents' complaint concluded by showing a meeting of municipal authorities promising to rectify their worries. Proposals will close the pedestrian tunnel to bicycle traffic by installing barriers to prevent them from entering.
Of course, that will just mean no one in a wheelchair will be able to use the tunnels that are plainly marked with signs reading "wheelchair accessible." But, maybe someone at that time will find the courage to raise a complaint.
All the same, it seems like Beijing is becoming a better place, if for no other reason than it is getting better at hiding its congested line-ups from plain sight.
Images: Weibo.com, iFeng.com, bjwb.bjd.com.cn
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