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Expert warns of Olympic overconstruction
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-12-09 01:12
A Chinese senior expert warned Wednesday that Beijing should be aware of
possible transport overconstruction during its preparatory work for the 2008
Beijing Olympic Games.
Zhou Ganzhi, former minister of China's Ministry of Construction, suggested
at the China (Beijing) Olympic Transportation Forum that Beijing should not only
rely on infrastructure construction to solve road congestion, which is widely
recognized as a key obstacle for the 2008 Games.
Zhou said that the Olympic Games is a special "rush hour", in which heavy
traffic is compacted within a particular period and certain area.
"That doesn't last long and is not likely to re-appear in the following
years. That's why we can't develop the city transport construction simply
according to the Olympic standard,
"Otherwise we're squandering money and labor to find many facilities are
useless after the Olympics," he said.
Zhou said that Beijing authorities and the Beijing Organizing Committee for
the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG) should pay attention to transport management in
addition to construction.
"Considering Beijing's current situation, there's still much to be done in
the transport management and especially on details.
"People often complain, for example, about the lack of road signs or they
still don't know where to drive even seeing the signs. That shows we still have
to study such things as the design and placement of road signs.
"These seemingly minor problems are important to ensure smooth traffic," he
said.
The academician, both of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy
of Engeering described transport construction as time- and money-consuming and
call for a thorough planning.
"If the construction is done, it's very hard to change it. So we must have a
cautious and all-around plan in accordance with the development of the city's
general transport system," he said.
Dozens of Chinese experts convened at the two-day forum, which started on
Tuesday, to shared views in tackling Beijing's transportation problems for the
2008 Games.
It's the second edition of such forum after the first in May. The forum
discussed a wide range of issues from transportation system development to
digital intelligent vehicle system and simulation.
The Beijing Municipal Transportation Committee presented a report on the
strategic transportation planning of the Beijing Olympics. Government officials,
who worked with Athens organizers during the 2004 Games, also briefed the forum
on the situation there.
Liu Jingmin, BOCOG's executive vice president, was present at the forum. He
admitted Beijing faced the traffic challenge but was optimistic about the
prospects.
"It's also an opportunity and I believe this city's traffic conditions will
be largely improved after the 2008 Games," he said.
"We need listen to experts' views carefully, and it should be a huge team
work to be done with specialists from various fields working
together."
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