Rest Area at KM 57 Accused of Causing Traffic Jams, Transport Minister Threatens Closure
Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi has threatened to close the rest area at kilometre 57 on the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road. The threat arises if no comprehensive improvements are implemented.
“I said yesterday, if no repairs are made, just close it. Because this is very disruptive; don’t let the toll road become a bottleneck,” Dudy stated in Jakarta on Thursday (9/4/2026).
A surge in vehicles has overwhelmed the rest area’s capacity. Long queues have extended onto the toll road itself.
Dudy assessed that the potential for congestion has existed for a long time. High vehicle volumes exacerbate the situation.
“To be honest, KM 57 has the potential to cause density. When the vehicle flow is very high, the ones in front haven’t exited yet, and those behind are already following, resulting in a build-up,” he explained.
“Congestion occurs from around midnight until 06:00 or 07:00 in the morning, because the flow is very high and the rest area cannot accommodate the number of holiday travellers,” Dudy said.
The government is urging improvements in collaboration with toll road operators and relevant ministries. The focus is on entrance access, internal traffic management within the area, and increasing capacity.
“What we want to improve is the entrance access, the flow inside the rest area, and its capacity must be expanded,” Dudy stated.
Mitigation measures are also being prepared. A system of opening and closing will be applied based on congestion levels.
“We will implement opening and closing by calculating the density ratio. This has already been done at several rest areas during the return flow,” he said.
Dudy emphasised the need to change road users’ behaviour. Drivers are urged not to stop for too long.
“Even stopping for one minute can cause long queues behind. This is what we need to educate,” he said.
“If coming from Jakarta, KM 57 is actually not yet time to stop. But due to habit, many still stop there,” he added.
The government has provided real-time traffic information. The data comes from CCTV and aerial monitoring.
The utilisation of this information is deemed not yet optimal. Dudy urged the public to start using the data to plan their journeys.