Motorists! Avoid certain major roads this morning

JAKARTA (JP): City Police have asked motorists to refrain from driving on certain major streets and toll roads for one hour this morning while they rehearse the convoy of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) delegates.

"The general rehearsal will be carried out from 8 to 9 a.m. but we'll start blocking the streets and toll roads 15 minutes earlier," secretary of the City Traffic Police Directorate Lt. Col. FX Sunarno said here yesterday.

Sunarno called on all Jakartans, in particular those who normally take the blockaded routes to get to work, to drive one hour before or after the scheduled rehearsal.

"The route of motorists taking the rehearsal roads will be blockaded," he reminded.

Today's rehearsal will begin from the tollroad in Tomang heading to Bogor via the Jagorawi tollroad in Cibubur. The "delegates", to be picked up from various star-rated hotels, will pass Jl. Lapangan Banteng Barat, Jl. Pejambon, Jl. Medan Merdeka Timur, Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara, Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat, Jl. M.H. Thamrin, Jl. Sudirman and pass through the tollroad in Semanggi.

Head of the directorate Col. Soeroso said in a statement that during today's rehearsal, the flow of traffic heading from Kebayoran Baru in South Jakarta to Jl. Sudirman and downtown Kota will be shifted to Jl. Kyai Maja, Jl. Trunojoyo, Jl. P. Tendean and Jl. Rasuna Said. Motorists from Tanah Abang heading for Pondok Pinang area in South Jakarta are advised to go through the Pejompongan artery road.

Motorists using Jl. Sisingamangaraja and Jl. Pattimura will be detoured to Jl. Asia Afrika, heading towards the Pejompongan artery road to Tanah Abang.

Those who enter Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin will be blocked, Soeroso said.

Col. Soeroso said in the statement that traffic flowing to the southern part of the city will be shifted as follows: from Jl. Buncit Raya to Jl. Rasuna Said and Pasar Minggu Raya to Jl. Supomo. Those from Jl. Dewi Sartika will be re-routed, depending on the traffic situation, before being shifted to Jl. Otista. Those from Kramat Jati will be let into Cililitan prior to being shifted to Jl. DI Panjaitan.

The shifting schedule of traffic coming from the western part is plotted as follows: those from Kebon Jeruk tollroad will be detoured before being shifted to Jl. Tomang Raya passing through Jl. Suryopranoto and Jl. Juanda. Traffics from Jl. Daan Mogot will be shifted to Jl. Kyai Tapa and Hasyim Ashari. Those from Pluit will be shifted to Jl. Kyai Tapa, Jl. Tomang Raya and Jl. KS Tubun. The Grogol-Cawang tollroad will be closed during the rehearsal.

"Motorists heading from the west to Cawang are urged to pass through Jl. Casablanca, Jl. Kampung Melayu and Jl. DI Panjaitan," Soeroso said.

Traffic from Kota heading to south will be directed and shifted to Jl. Juanda, Jl. Gunung Sahari, Jl. Hasyim Ashari and Jl. Suryopranoto.

Those from Tanjung Priok tollroad heading to Bogor or Bandung are advised to take Jl. Raya Bogor and the Jakarta-Cikampek tollroad because the Jagorawi tollroad will be closed during the rehearsal.

Motorists from Bekasi heading to downtown Kota are asked to take the Tanjung Priok-Pramuka tollroad or Jl. Cempaka Putih.

Soeroso said that during the rehearsal (from Jakarta to Bogor and vice versa), the toll gates on the blockaded highways will be temporarily closed.

Today's rehearsal is applied in line with the scheduled transporting of the delegates back and forth to the APEC forum summit in Bogor on Nov. 15.

Similar efforts were carried out over three consecutive days beginning last Friday, though no roads or toll roads were blockaded.

According to Sunarno, the transportation activities on the other days will be conducted by randomly blocking a number of toll gates, especially at a time when official convoys are to pass through.

"We hope that people will reduce the use of their own cars during those days," he said and asked employers and company directors to understand should their staff fail to turn up on time.

During the first two arrival days, several roads will be temporarily closed to let the delegates arrive at their hotels on schedule. (bsr)

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