Ministry of Public Works to Revamp Rest Areas at KM 57 and 60 Ahead of Year-End Holidays

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Public Works (PU) will revamp the rest areas at KM 57 and KM 62 on the Jakarta-Cikampek (Japek) toll road to anticipate congestion ahead of the Christmas 2026 and New Year 2027 holiday period (Nataru). Public Works Minister Dody Hanggodo stated that both rest areas were critical congestion points during this year’s Eid homecoming traffic. “Later, Jasa Marga will form a team to determine how the rest areas should be renovated or restructured so that the congestion problem can be resolved,” Dody said during a discussion with the media in Jakarta on Thursday. He explained that the improvements are targeted to be completed before the year-end holiday period to prevent a recurrence of the extreme density seen during Eid. According to him, one of the main problems at the KM 57 rest area is the limited capacity of entry and exit access, which cannot accommodate surges in vehicles. Additionally, the KM 62 rest area area is a convergence point for vehicles from various directions, potentially causing density when traffic volume increases. “Indeed, several points like that must be addressed so they do not become sources of congestion when traffic conditions are very heavy,” Dody stated. Dody said the Ministry of Public Works will coordinate with toll road business entities (BUJT) and private parties in implementing the improvements. He added that increasing the capacity of rest area services is also a focus to accommodate the needs of road users. “We target it to be completed at the latest before the 2026 Nataru holidays,” he said. On the other hand, the Ministry of Public Works is also promoting the upgrading of Type B rest areas to Type A to increase service capacity on toll roads. However, he acknowledged that developing rest areas still faces challenges from an investment perspective due to seasonal usage needs. “The problem is that the need is only during holiday seasons, so investors are still considering it,” Dody said. As an alternative, the government has prepared around 15 functional rest areas that can be used during vehicle surges. These functional rest areas are expected to serve as temporary solutions to reduce the burden on main rest areas. In addition, the Ministry of Public Works is encouraging holiday travellers to utilise facilities outside the toll road, such as mosques and rest areas near toll exit accesses. These steps are hoped to distribute vehicle flow more evenly, thereby reducing density at specific points.