Infrastructure Minister urges upgrade of Singkawang Airport access road to four lanes

Singkawang — Infrastructure Coordination Minister Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) has urged the expansion of the road access to Singkawang Airport to four lanes to strengthen connectivity and support economic growth in Singkawang, West Kalimantan.

AHY made the statement whilst inspecting the approximately 10-kilometre road section connecting the national highway with Singkawang city centre and the airport area.

“Generally, this is two lanes, although ideally it should be four lanes. Currently, only approximately 150 metres near the airport have been expanded to four lanes. An additional approximately 50 billion rupiah is needed to upgrade it to four lanes,” said AHY in Singkawang on Monday.

He explained that the airport access road development has been implemented in three stages since 2023 with a total budget of approximately 115 billion rupiah. In the initial 2023 stage, the 10-kilometre section was opened, although it was still an unpaved earth road.

According to him, the existence of this access is vital as it has reduced travel time from approximately 30 minutes to just five minutes.

In its implementation, the road construction has faced severe challenges due to peatland and swamp soil conditions. To overcome this, structural reinforcement was undertaken through the installation of timber piles four to six metres deep with spacing of approximately 40 centimetres, as well as the use of geotextile stabiliser before asphalting.

AHY emphasised that expanding the road capacity to four lanes is important given that Singkawang Airport is now one of the backbone connectivity facilities in West Kalimantan, particularly for Singkawang and surrounding areas.

Infrastructure development in Singkawang is also relevant to strengthening the tourism sector, including the Cap Go Meh celebration which annually attracts both domestic and foreign tourists.