Phnom Penh Announces Three Pedestrian Zones but Remains Unclear Regarding Modalities
- By Po Sakun
- May 1, 2024 10:00 AM
PHNOM PENH – Phnom Penh City Hall is planning to set up three pedestrian areas in Daun Penh district by the end of the year. They are meant to cover a total of 57 hectares from the post office to the south of Wat Botum Park.
The project will start to be studied in early May and should be completed before 2025, said Meth Meas Pheakdey, Phnom Penh City Hall’s spokesman.
The walking streets will be paved with shops, restaurants, hotels, and bars for evening entertainment among national and international visitors, he said.
The first pedestrian zone will cover 3.3 hectares around the post office and the former colonial district. The zone is bounded by street 94 to the North, street 106 to the South, street 13 to the West and Sisowath Boulevard to the East.
The Boulevard connects with the Riverside, a 1.5-kilometer-long esplanade that leads to the Royal Palace, where people exercise or spend time with their families in the evening.
The second walking zone will cover 20.7 hectares and has been labeled as a ‘pub street’. It is bounded by street 106 to the North, street 13 to the West, street 184 to the South and Sisowath Boulevard to the East.
The master plan of the walking street project. Photo: Phnom Penh City Hall
The last pedestrian zone will cover 34 hectares across street 184 to the North, street 07 to the West, Sisowath Quay to the East and Norodom Boulevard to the South. It will go until the Samdech Choun Nath roundabout, close to the casino Nagaworld.
“The three areas will be organized as green spaces with gardens, colorful lights, restrooms, temporary parking lots, shops, restaurants, hotels, bars, and a pub street,” said Phnom Penh's Public Works and Transport Department’s Director Sam Piseth in a statement, cited by Pheakdey.
Once defined, walking areas shall be accessible to pedestrians from 6 p.m. until 11 p.m., the statement read.
However, it remains unclear whether these walking areas will be set up permanently – therefore blocking traffic every evening – or open for pedestrians on special occasions only.
Contacted by reporters, neither Spokesperson Meas Pheakdey nor Transport Department’s Director Sam Piseth have been able to provide additional information by press time.
If the pedestrian zones were to be permanent, it remains unclear how people living in these areas will access their homes in the evening.
Similarly, it is unclear where the announced pub street, green spaces and gardens will be located and what kind of work will be needed to make these pedestrian zones a reality.
Originally written in Khmer for ThmeyThmey, this story was translated by Meng Seavmey for Cambodianess.
Meng Seavmey and François Camps contributed to this story.
