Jalan M.H. Thamrin or Jalan Thamrin (M.H. Thamrin Avenue or Thamrin Avenue) is a major thoroughfare in Jakarta, Indonesia. The road is located at the center of Jakarta, running from the north end of Jalan Jenderal Sudirman at West Flood Canal at the south end to the roundabout near Arjuna Wijaya Statue Jakarta at the north end. Developed in the 1950s, the road was a landmark of post-colonial Indonesia and continues to have a prominent importance in Jakarta.

Jalan M.H. Thamrin
Thamrin Avenue
Thamrin Avenue, Central Jakarta
Former name(s)Djalan M.H. Thamrin
NamesakeMohammad Husni Thamrin
OwnerGovernment of Special Region of Jakarta
Maintained byOffice of Public Works (Dinas Pekerjaan Umum) of Special Region of Jakarta
Length2.4 km (1.5 mi)
LocationCentral Jakarta
Nearest metro station Dukuh Atas BNI, Bundaran HI Bank DKI
South endWest Flood Canal bridge / Jalan Jenderal Sudirman
Major
junctions
Jl. Budi Kemuliaan-Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan, Jl. Kebon Sirih, Jl. KH. Wahid Hasyim, Bundaran HI roundabout
North endThamrin Fountain at Bank Indonesia Roundabout
Construction
Construction start1949[1]
Completion1953
InaugurationJanuary 1951[1]

Description

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Thamrin Road is classified as a secondary arterial road in Jakarta.

The road passes through five urban administrative villages:

Thamrin Road is closed to traffic every Sunday from 6:00 until 11:00 as part of Jakarta Car Free Days campaign. The Thamrin road is one of the Odd–even Traffic Restriction Scheme implementation zones (Monday to Friday, 06:00-10:00 and 16:00-21:00)[2]

History

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Before Thamrin Road

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The road that would become Thamrin Road first appear around late 1910s-1920s as a small lane running from Koningsplein West (now Medan Merdeka Barat) to Kebon Sirih. This lane was known as Gang Timboel.[1][3] Prominent landmark near this small lane was a 19th-century Armenian Church for the Armenian community of Batavia.[4] The church has been demolished. The former location of the Armenian Church is the green within the complex of Bank Indonesia.

1950s Kebayoran Baru

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The development of the suburb Kebayoran in 1949 raised the need to link the suburb with the city center of Jakarta, and thus work on a new "highway" began in the same year. The northern half of this new highway received the name Jalan M.H. Thamrin by January 1951, after Indonesian National Hero Mohammad Husni Thamrin.[1] To avoid the occupation of the newly opened lands by illegal squatters - a major problem at the time - the government sold these lands cheaply to those who committed to build on it within three to six months. Despite this, time extensions had to be granted because buyers could not arrange finance or procure building materials.[5]

Among the early projects situated in Thamrin Road were Sarinah Department Store, Bank Dagang Negara building (now Wisma Mandiri), Ministry of Religion building, Wisma Nusantara, Hotel Indonesia and the prominent Bundaran Hotel Indonesia.[5] Thamrin Road was largely completed by 1953.[1]

1962 Asian Games expansion

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View of the southern half of Thamrin Road from Hotel Kartika Plaza in the 1970s.

With the arrival of the 1962 Asian Games, President Sukarno imagined the VIP visitors for the Asian Games arriving at Kemayoran Airport, drove along Thamrin Road, be greeted by the Welcome Monument and stayed at Hotel Indonesia. For the Games itself, the same VIP visitors would be driven along Sudirman Road over the Semanggi cloverleaf bridge into the newly-opened Gelora Bung Karno sports complex where the competitions would take place.[6] For the purpose of the game, both Thamrin and Sudirman Road were widened in the early 1960s.[1] A regulation was also established which requires buildings along Thamrin Road to be minimum five-stories-high. This was difficult to achieve due to lack of funding and commercial building expertise at that time, and the fact that there were already several two-story government buildings along Thamrin Road.[5]

In the beginning of 1970s, Thamrin Road was already a major thoroughfare of Jakarta as envisaged by Sukarno. Buildings reached a minimum height of five stories e.g. ICA building (later the United Nations), Hotel Asoka, the Australian Embassy, and the state-owned developer Pembangunan Perumahan. Sudirman Road was still relatively devoid of development during the early 1970s compare with Thamrin Road, with the exception of the Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex.[7]

Several parades were enacted along the major thoroughfare, including Jakarta's anniversary parade and Independence Day parade.

Transjakarta

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Thamrin Road in 1993 before the introduction of Transjakarta BRT

Up until the 2000s, Thamrin Road consisted of four carriageways consisting of local-express lanes, 3 lanes for the express lane and 2 lanes for the local lane. With the introduction of Transjakarta BRT in 2004, one of the lane of the express lanes was converted into a dedicated lane for the BRT. Eventually, Thamrin Road was made a dual carriageway by removing the separator of the local and express lanes.

Motorcycle

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The Jakarta administration in December 2014 introduced a ban on motorcycles from using Jalan Thamrin and the adjoining Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat.[8]

The ban was lifted by governor Anies Baswedan in 2018.

Major buildings along the MH Thamrin Road

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Sorted from North to South
West East
Bank Indonesia Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources
Indosurya Finance Center
Bangkok Bank
Thamrin Clock Tower (Formerly located at the middle of the intersection with the Kebon Sirih Street. The Clock Tower is now temporarily moved to the National Monument complex for the construction of the second phase of the North-South Line of the Jakarta MRT)[9][10][11]
Ministry of Religious Affairs Wisma Mandiri (Branch office of Bank Mandiri and Bank Syariah Indonesia)
Thamrin 10
Coordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investments Affairs, National Research and Innovation Agency, and the National Standardization Agency
Menara Thamrin (Head office of Lintasarta,   Embassy of Argentina) Sari Pacific Hotel
Gedung Jaya Menara Cakrawala (Skyline Building)
Intersection with the Kyai Haji Wahid Hasyim Street
General Election Supervisory Agency Sarinah Building
Menara Topas (  Embassy of East Timor)
Lippo Thamrin   Embassy of France
BBC (BBC News and BBC World Service) Sinar Mas Land Plaza
Indonesia-1 Tower Empty (Previously there was Wisma Kosgoro, but it was demolished due to a massive fire in 2015)[12]
  Embassy of Japan Pertamina Lubricants
Plaza Indonesia, The Plaza, The Keraton, and Grand Hyatt Hotel Jakarta Plaza Bank Index
Pullman Hotel Jakarta
Wisma Nusantara
Hotel Indonesia Roundabout (Selamat Datang Monument)
Hotel Indonesia Kempinsiki, BCA Tower, and Grand Indonesia Deutsche Bank (  Embassy of Belgium)
Mandarin Oriental Jakarta
  Embassy of Germany
Thamrin Nine Complex, UOB Plaza, & The Autograph Tower The City Tower (  Embassy of Chile)
Dukuh Atas BNI MRT station and BNI City railway station (Soekarno–Hatta Airport Rail Link) Sudirman railway station (KRL Commuterline)

Intersections

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K.H. Wahid Hasyim Street intersection

There are four intersections:

  • Bank Indonesia Fountain Roundabout, to West Medan Merdeka Street (north), Budi Kemuliaan Street (west), and South Medan Merdeka Street (east)
  • Kebon Sirih Street intersection
  • K.H. Wahid Hasyim Street intersection, also known as Sarinah intersection
  • Hotel Indonesia Roundabout, to Jalan Jenderal Sudirman (south) and Menteng (southeast)

Transportation

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M.H Thamrin street

Jalan M.H. Thamrin is currently served by Dukuh Atas BNI and Bundaran HI Bank DKI stations of Jakarta MRT. Sudirman station of KRL Commuterline and BNI City station of Soekarno–Hatta Airport Rail Link are located at the south end of the road as a part of Dukuh Atas TOD.

Bus routes

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TransJakarta

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The Bundaran HI Astra Transjakarta BRT station

There are four stops for the TransJakarta busway along Jalan M.H. Thamrin, mainly serving for Route 1, 6A, and 6B. They are:

The Transjakarta routes that serves the M.H. Thamrin Road are:

  • BRT Corridors
    •   Blok M-Kota
    •   Ragunan-Balai Kota via Kuningan
    •   Ragunan-Balai Kota via Semanggi
  • Inner city feeder
    • 1N Tanah Abang–Blok M
    • 1P Senen–Blok M
    • 9D Pasar Minggu–Tanah Abang
  • RoyalTrans
  • #jakartaexplorer tour buses
    • BW4 (Jakarta skyscrapers)

Other buses

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Apart from Transjakarta, here are the list of public transportation routes that serve the M.H. Thamrin Road:

  • Metromini S640 Pasar Minggu-Tanah Abang
  • Metromini P15 Senen-Setiabudi
  • Kopaja P19 Tanah Abang-Ragunan
  • Kopaja S602 AC Monas-Ragunan
  • PPD AC11 Pulo Gadung-Grogol
  • PPD AC16 Lebak Bulus-Rawamangun
  • PPD P67 Blok M-Senen
  • PPD 213 Grogol-Kampung Melayu
  • Mayasari Bakti AC52 Tanah Abang-Bekasi (via Komdak - Sudirman - Thamrin - Bulak Kapal)
  • Mayasari Bakti AC52A Tanah Abang-Jatiasih (via Komdak - Sudirman - Thamrin - Jatibening)
  • Mayasari Bakti AC62 Senen-Poris Plawad (via Slipi - Sudirman - Thamrin - Karawaci)
  • Mayasari Bakti AC70 Tanah Abang-Kp. Rambutan (via Komdak - Sudirman - Thamrin - UKI - Ps. Rebo)
  • Mayasari Bakti AC70A Tanah Abang-Cileungsi (via Komdak - Sudirman - Thamrin - Cibubur)
  • Bianglala Metropolitan AC44 Senen-Ciledug (via Stasiun Gambir - Sudirman - Thamrin - Kebayoran Lama)
  • Bianglala Metropolitan AC57 Harmoni-Ciputat (via Sudirman - Thamrin - Fatmawati - Lebak Bulus)
  • Bianglala Metropolitan AC76 Senen-Ciputat (via Sudirman - Thamrin - Fatmawati - Lebak Bulus)
  • Jasa Utama P125 Blok M-Tanjung Priok (via Sudirman - Thamrin - Ps. Baru)

Train lines

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Jakarta MRT

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The platform of the Bundaran HI MRT station underneath the M.H. Thamrin Road

The M.H. Thamrin Road is also served by the North–South Line of the Jakarta MRT   There are two stations:

KRL Commuterline

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The frontage of the Sudirman railway station

This road is also accessible with the Cikarang Loop Line of the KRL Commuterline   There is one station:

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A KRL Commuterline train passing through the BNI City railway station

M.H. Thamrin Road is also served by the Soekarno–Hatta Airport Rail Link   There is one station:

See also

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Notes

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Merrillees 2015, p. 102.
  2. ^ Media, Kompas Cyber (26 June 2022). "Jangan Lupa, Ganjil Genap Jakarta Berlaku di 25 Ruas Jalan Ini". KOMPAS.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  3. ^ Sejarah Jalan M H Thamrin, retrieved 17 October 2022
  4. ^ "De Armeniërs, een volk waar ik deels van afstam". imexbo.nl. imexbo.nl. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  5. ^ a b c Merrillees 2015, p. 103.
  6. ^ Merrillees 2015, p. 99.
  7. ^ Merrillees 2015, p. 21.
  8. ^ Folmer (5 April 2015). "City Revised Motorcycle Ban Passing Regulation on Jalan Thamrin". Beritajakarta.id. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  9. ^ Liputan6.com (29 April 2021). "Sejarah Menara Jam Thamrin yang Bakal Direlokasi karena Imbas Pembangunan MRT". liputan6.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 28 June 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ ✅ MENARA JAM THAMRIN AKAN DI PINDAHKAN KE MONAS HINGGA 2025 (in Indonesian), retrieved 28 June 2022
  11. ^ MRT Jakarta Fase 2: Pemindahan Sementara dan Pemugaran Menara Jam Thamrin (in Indonesian), retrieved 28 June 2022
  12. ^ Rahadian, Lalu. "Kebakaran Wisma Kosgoro Pecahkan Rekor Asia". nasional (in Indonesian). Retrieved 28 June 2022.

Works cited

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6°11′26″S 106°49′23″E / 6.190498°S 106.822924°E / -6.190498; 106.822924