City to have toll roads to Tangerang and Depok

JAKARTA (JP): Two new toll roads, from Jakarta to Tangerang and Jakarta to Depok, are to be built, a senior official at the Ministry of Public Works said yesterday.

Director General of Highways Soeharsono Martakim said one of the toll roads would run from Depok to Jl. Pangeran Antasari, South Jakarta, to the South Jakarta outer ringroad. It is to be 15 kilometers long.

The other toll road would connect Tangerang and the Grogol area in West Jakarta, and is planned to run for 12 kilometers, he said.

"Many investors have shown interest for the two planned roads," Soeharsono said.

Bambang Sundjojo, operations director at state-run toll road company Jasa Marga, said the two roads are expected to be completed by 1999.

Investment would be around Rp 30 billion to 40 billion per kilometer, similar to other urban toll roads, Bambang said.

Soeharsono said preliminary studies for the projects were on- going. The winning tenderer on the project would then conduct detailed studies, he said.

Bambang said it has not been decided whether the toll road from Tangerang to Grogol would be elevated over Jl. Daan Mogot or pass through it.

A feasibility study would also determine whether the toll road from Jl. Pangeran Antasari to Depok passes the railway area or the river, he said.

The Tangerang-Grogol and Jl. Pangeran Antasari-Depok toll roads are among 22 planned toll roads in Indonesia. Traffic had already become too heavy on these routes, the officials said.

Soeharsono also explained preparations for coping with congested roads prior to the Idul Futri holidays. He said a new road linking the Merak port to Cilegon, West Java, should be ready prior to Idul Fitri.

He said this would be an alternative to the 17-km Merak-Serdan road and the 15-km Merak-East Cilegon road. Public transport users were last year forced to walk long distances due to traffic jams caused by those returning home for the Idul Futri holidays.

The new road from Merak would be 32 kilometers in length and would pass Suralaya, Sumuranja and Bojonegara, he said.

However, a segment of five kilometers around Bojonegara would be gravel, pending construction of the new port in the area.

Regarding road conditions, Soeharsono said it is encouraging that the main cause of road damage, overloaded trucks, would now be better coordinated under Bappenas, the National Development Planning Board.

The director in charge of technical affairs, M. Anas Aly, said past surveys had shown most trucks carried loads up to 16 tons, which is above the capacity weight most roads are designed to carry. Roads here are only expected to have a maximum capacity of 10 tons, he said.

Bappenas would work to coordinate the various offices controlling truck loading limits, he said. Involved agencies include the Ministry of Public Works, the Ministries of Transportation, Industry, Home Affairs, National Police, and Organda (the organization of private public transportation owners).

There have been reports of truck drivers bribing their way through official checks in the past, making control of their loads difficult. (anr)