Holiday Travellers Stray into Rice Fields, Alternative Route to Purwomartani Toll Gate Removed

PT Jasamarga Jogja-Solo (JMJ) has removed the alternative road route to the Purwomartani Toll Gate from digital navigation applications following numerous holiday travellers becoming lost in rice field areas since Sunday (22/3). “Information from field colleagues indicates that the route to the Purwomartani Gate has been removed from Google Maps,” said JMJ’s Public Relations officer, Rachmat Jesiman, when met at the Purwomartani Toll Gate on Tuesday (24/3) night. In addition to removing the route from the app, PT JMJ has also added personnel and signage to direct drivers to use the Yogyakarta-Solo road as the sole access to the Purwomartani Toll Gate. “The hope is that there will be no more people getting lost,” Rachmat stated. Jesiman also confirmed that up to H+3 of Eid, there have been no reports of accidents (zero accidents) on the functional Yogyakarta-Solo toll route. The presence of the Purwomartani Toll Gate, which is functionally open for the Eid mudik and return flow in 2026, has caused anxiety. This is because travellers heading to the gate have instead strayed through the rice field road area in Karang Kalasan, Tirtomartani, Kalasan, Sleman since Tuesday afternoon. Based on observations, car after car was seen traversing the rice field road area, specifically east of RSI PDHI. This route leads to Cangkringan Road, passing through residential areas and under road construction towards the Purwomartani Toll Gate. From Cangkringan Road, drivers still need several hundred metres to reach Solo Road before accessing the entry to the Purwomartani Toll Gate. Towards evening, the queue of vehicles crossing this rice field route grew longer. Local residents even had to water the front of their homes due to the dust caused by the many passing cars. Local residents said this situation has been ongoing since Sunday (22/3). Hundreds to thousands of vehicles have strayed onto the rice field embankments before being directed by some residents to the main access to the Purwomartani Toll Gate.