An officer directs drivers onto an overpass that is still under construction on the Tegal-Cilacap road, Paguyangan district, Brebes regency, Central Java, on Thursday (22/6). Even though the overpass has not been completed, it has been temporarily opened to allow homeward-bound Lebaran traffic to avoid a level railway crossing.
BREBES, KOMPAS – Homebound travelers departing from Jakarta at nearly the same time on Thursday night (22/6) caused severe traffic congestion in the capital. The line of vehicles from Slipi-Cawang to Bekasi barely moved, as the main access out of Jakarta appears to have been gridlocked.
The main cause of the traffic jam, especially around the Bekasi and Karawang rest areas, was the sheer volume of homebound travelers wanting to rest, eat and refuel their vehicles. The long queue of vehicles entering the rest areas caused severe congestion on toll roads, including the Jakarta Inner City toll road.
Bambang Hermanto, a homebound traveler who set off from Ciledug, Tangerang, at 7:00 p.m., was still stuck in heavy traffic at 11:30 p.m. at the Cikarang Km 30 marker. He had taken 4.5 hours to cover a distance of only 50 kilometers.
Another traveler, Suharyanto, left from Kebun Jeruk, West Jakarta, at 8:00 p.m., and was still stuck at Bekasi Km 18 at 11:30 p.m. After passing the Km 57 marker on the Karawang toll road, he found that traffic was still heavy but moving.
In fact, after the T-junction of the Purbaleunyi and Cipali toll roads at Km 68, the flow of vehicles was relatively smooth on Thursday night. The traffic flow was divided into those heading on the southern route toward Bandung-Cileunyi-Garut and those heading toward the Cikopo-Palimanan-Brebes toll road.
Effective traffic engineering
The traffic engineering strategies carried out by traffic officials from Cirebon to Central Java on Thursday afternoon were generally effective in easing congestion.
The West Java northern coastal highway was increasingly packed with homebound travelers on motorbikes.
On the Central Java northern coastal highway, vehicles passing the border between Brebes and Tegal were redirected to the Tegal bus terminal to take the coastal road. The diversion caused the traffic to run more smoothly, because it prevented vehicles from entering downtown Tegal.
Near Pasar Wiradesa, Pekalongan, the traffic jammed again, but was able to be eased by the police. Travel on connecting roads was untroubled until the border of Semarang. At Mangkang, Semarang, the Central Java Police implemented a counterflow system on one road so that the traffic flow to the Krapyak tollgate could be smoother.
Meanwhile, travelers heading to the southern highway can exit at Pejagan. However, the overpasses on the Ketanggungan-Bumiayu road should also be considered. The first two overpasses can be used, but work on the Kesambi and Kretek overpasses is not yet fully complete.
In Kretek, cars may only proceed slowly because the main road is still constructed of a steel grid laid with wood. After Kretek, travelers will face the narrow Karang Sawah road, which is yet to have an overpass. Thursday afternoon, traffic on Karang Sawah stretched 10 km long.
As an alternative to the overpass, travelers can take the central highway to the Ketanggungan T-junction, where they can take the road headed toward Slawi, Pemalang, Radudongkal and Purbalingga. The road is narrow but good, and with beautiful vistas during the day.
The condition of Central Java’s southern track to Yogyakarta is relatively smooth, even though it is narrow and winding. Meanwhile, travelers heading to Ciamis from the Wangon T-junction will face a potholed road from Majenang to Banjar. After this, the condition of the road is relatively good, but it is hilly and winding.
Traffic jam
According to the head of the Cikarang Utama 1 tollgate, Hervian, the number of vehicles passing through the tollgate on Thursday from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. reached 68,000 units. In Nagreg, West Java, as of 6:00 p.m.,over 80,000 vehicles had traveled on the southern road.
The counterflow system has been implemented to anticipate long congestion at the Ciherang T-junction on the road to Garut and Tasikmalaya. However, traffic in Nagreg is still generally crowded but smooth flowing.
The Public Works and Public Housing Ministry’s director general of Bina Marga, Arie Setiadi Moerwanto, while monitoring the northern coastal highway (pantura), urged homebound travelers not to focus on taking the toll roads. “The national roads are in fairly good condition. There is the pantura highway and the southern highway. The spots that are vulnerable to damage have been dealt with. Markets overflowing [onto roads] have been fenced in,” Arie said.
He also asked drivers not to insist on using the emergency road, as the road is not yet fully ready to be taken by travelers.
On the President’s order
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo hopes that road congestion and the number of accidents can be reduced during the mass homebound exodus ahead of Lebaran, which is only days away. President Jokowi has thus asked that the homebound exodus be managed in an integrated manner.
All relevant institutions, such as the Transportation Ministry, Public Works and Public Housing Ministry, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and State-Owned Enterprises Ministry, as well as the National Police, are to work together without hierarchical egoism in serving homebound travelers.
The President hopes that concrete traffic management measures can be carried out to curb road congestion and the number of accidents.
“The President agrees with the decision to transform functional roads into emergency roads along the Brebes-Gringsing segment so that anticipating travelers’ expectations in using the emergency road can be more realistic,” Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi told Kompas after a plenary cabinet meeting at Istana Merdeka, Jakarta.
The cabinet meeting, led by President Jokowi and attended by Vice-President Jusuf Kalla as well as a number of cabinet ministers, added Budi, also supported the coordination measure carried out by the Transport Ministry and the Central Java Police, as well as the other institutions, of only allowing the emergency road to be used from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
“At night, the emergency road will be closed because there is no lighting yet, but it can be used if there is heavy traffic. The President asked that, when the emergency road is open, the police or transport ministry officials be on guard to guide drivers so that they do not speed and overtake one another, which could lead to accidents,” he said.
Budi added that the President hoped that road-users could follow the guidance and direction of road officials properly to ensure order and safety in their journey.
