Traffic Surges as Masses Return toward Jakarta

Traffic is surging on major routes as holidaymakers return to the big cities. Traffic management measures, including contraflow schemes, turning two-way roads into one-way ones and making toll roads free of charge may be implemented to reduce congestion.

KOMPAS/P RADITYA MAHENDRA YASA

An aerial shot shows vehicles queuing on the Boyolali-Salatiga toll road on Monday (18/6/2018) on their return journey from celebrating Lebaran in Susukan village of Susukan district, Semarang regency, Central Java.

SEMARANG, KOMPAS – At the Kali Kenteng bridge in Semarang regency, Central Java, motorists were queueing up to three kilometers until midday on Monday (18/6/2018). The Kartasura-Salatiga toll road was narrowed from two lanes to one lane below the 600-meter-long bridge. A crosswalk 300 meters before the bridge was also disrupting traffic.

Traffic was also slowed by the steep uphill and downhill sections at the bridge. Kompas reporters needed one hour to pass the bridge, with the line of vehicles measuring 2 kilometers.

Holidaymaker Asih, 34, said she had not expected any traffic jam that day. Her family was trying to get back to Bandung before the peak of Jakarta-bound traffic, which the government has predicted for June 19-20.

Westbound traffic has also surged on the Cikampek-Palimanan (Cipali) toll road since midday on Monday (18/6). Traffic at the Palimanan toll gate was smooth, but it built up near rest areas at Kilometers 164, 130, 102B and 86B.

As the toll road only has two lanes in either direction, backups of vehicles trying to enter rest areas affected traffic on the toll road. At Kilometer 164, traffic backed up more than 1 kilometer, with travel speed falling to 10-20 km per hour.

Traffic diversion

To reduce traffic jams, police implemented a one-way traffic scheme between Kilometers 131 and 126. West Java Police traffic directorate safety and security head Adj. Sr. Comr. Mahyudin said diverting traffic to regular roads would be the measure of last resort.

Cipali toll road operator PT Lintas Marga Sedaya (LMS) data show that traffic on shift 1 surged from 11,520 vehicles on Sunday (17/6/2018) to 25,445 vehicles on Monday (18/6/2018).

Meanwhile, increasing traffic is also anticipated on the Palimanan-Kanci (Palikanci) toll road from Central Java, which leads up to the Cipali toll road. Agus Hartoyo, the Palikanci traffic management division head of state-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga, said traffic would be split into three lanes at the Kilometer 208 rest area.

Apart from that, contraflow and traffic diversion schemes, as well as making toll roads free of charge, are measures prepared for the northern coastal toll road heading to Jakarta to anticipate a surge in traffic during the return travel peak from June 19-20.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said spots prone to traffic snarls included the Kali Kuto bridge (Batang, Central Java), the Kali Kenteng bridge (Salatiga, Central Java), the Cikopo-Palimanan toll road and rest areas. Several rest areas on the toll road are small and can easily reach full capacity.

“However, we will make sure that the rest areas have enough fuel stocks and drivers will be able to enjoy short rests,” Budi said while inspecting the homecoming traffic on the Batang-Semarang toll road on Monday.

Pantura

The homecoming traffic surge was also visible on Java’s northern coastal route (Pantura). In North Cikarang, Bekasi regency, West Java, traffic heading to Jakarta was dominated by motorbikes on Monday morning.

North Cikarang resident Mursih, 42, who opened a food stall in front of her home, said traffic on the Pantura route heading to Jakarta had begun to build up on Monday afternoon at around 3 p.m.

“The road was still empty in the morning and at midday,” she said. As traffic surged on the Pantura, Mursih’s food stall saw an increase in customers. “It’s not bad. Five motorists have stopped by,” she said. Holidaymaker Supardi, 46, who was on his way back to Ciputat in South Tangerang, Banten, said traffic was relatively smooth despite the increase in the number of vehicles, especially motorbikes, heading to Jakarta.

In East Java, traffic has surged since Sunday (17/6/2018). The increasing number of vehicles has led to traffic snarls on a number of major routes and prompted authorities to open both ways of the Wilangan-Kertosono functional toll roads. This is to reduce the traffic jam at the Wilangan and Bandar Kedungmulyo toll gates on the Jombang-Mojokerto toll road.

(KRN/SYA/ETA/JUM/DIT/NUT/ODY/E04/E05/E08/E12/E12/E19/E21)