PARENTS, devotees and community leaders in Brickfields fear ongoing road upgrading works along Jalan Sultan Abdul Samad could worsen congestion and restrict access to nearby schools and a Hindu temple. Their main concern is the conversion of one of the three existing lanes into a bicycle lane under Phase Two of the Brickfields improvement project. Under the project, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) is narrowing the width of the road to 6.5m (or 3.25m for each lane) while introducing a 1.3m pedestrian walkway and 1.2m bicycle lane. The project, fronting SJK(T) Vivekananda and nearby Sri Sivan Alayam Brickfields temple, forms part of a busy travel route. SJK(T) Vivekananda Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) chairman Thamilalagan Suppiah said the road changes would remove space used by parents to park briefly to get their children. Thamilalagan said parents or private transport providers fetch the pupils between 12.50pm and 1.20pm. “The primary school has more than 300 pupils,” he said. “Parents have to park, walk into the school to get their children as primary pupils are not allowed to leave without supervision.” Thamilalagan said those unable to find parking would be forced to make a big circle along the one-way road system before returning to the school. Sri Sivan Alayam Brickfields chairman A. Rajasingam Arunmugam said devotees also faced a similar problem as they would park on Jalan Sultan Abdul Samad for a short while when going to the temple. He said devotees would leave their cars for between 10 and 30 minutes as DBKL’s nearby carpark lot was often full by 8am. Rajasingam said the parking situation was dire during religious festivals when several hundred devotees visited the temple. “Elderly, the disabled and visually impaired devotees also have to be dropped off close to the temple entrance,” he said. “With Jalan Sultan Abdul Samad