Motorists Fume Over Cakung-Cilincing Gridlock, Complain of Being 'Roasted' on the Road

The traffic jam on Jalan Raya Cakung-Cilincing has left motorists emotional, with complaints ranging from being late for work to feeling ‘roasted’ on the road whilst battling the congestion. Adelaide, a resident of East Jakarta who commutes to North Jakarta, said the gridlock significantly lengthened her journey. ‘The distance from home to the office is about 10.5 km. Under normal conditions, it usually takes only about 30 minutes, but today it took nearly 65 minutes because the jam was quite severe,’ she said on Wednesday. Adelaide added that she felt as though she was being roasted under the blazing sun whilst stuck in traffic, noting that many drivers become emotional due to the jams. ‘Yes, it’s like being roasted, and in the morning many people are rushing to work, it’s jammed, then people get emotional, so I get emotional too. In this case, leaving early in the morning makes no difference, because what causes the jam are the parked containers,’ she explained. Adelaide said the congestion occurs because of the large number of containers queuing along the road to enter the Cakung depot. She urged the government to find a solution so the traffic problem does not drag on. ‘For me, I would like the container vehicle lane to be separated from the public vehicle lane, so that traffic is more organised and safe,’ she said. ‘As a motorcyclist, honestly, I am quite worried about having to be constantly close to large containers, especially when the road is congested. Besides reducing congestion, I think separating the lanes could also improve safety for other road users,’ she added. Another motorist, Farhani, shared similar grievances. Farhani said she has to leave for work earlier to avoid being late due to the jams on Jalan Cakung-Cilincing. ‘I have to leave for work early to avoid the jam, but it turns out everyone has the same idea, so it’s still jammed. Because the cause is those queuing containers,’ she said. On the way home, Farhani also has to struggle with congestion on the same stretch of road. As a new mother, she needs to arrive home on time after work to play with her child. ‘We have to keep our mood in check, but we end up getting home late. Because there is a baby waiting for us at home, we also need to play with them. The bottom line is, we as citizens are asking for this traffic problem to be solved,’ she said. Previously, traffic on Jalan Cakung-Cilincing was again heavily congested today. The density was caused by a long queue of container trucks in the left lane of the road. ‘There is a queue of container trucks in the left lane of Jalan Cacing Raya heading to the BSA Logistik Depot,’ stated the Traffic Management Centre of the Polda Metro Jaya via its X account. In an uploaded video, officers found the truck queue snaking along the northbound section of Jalan Cakung-Cilincing. The container trucks were lined up in the left lane, leaving only the two right lanes for other vehicles to pass. Officers monitoring from the traffic light reported that conditions at the Cacing underpass junction were also quite busy.