Triggering Congestion, Minister of Public Works to Evaluate Layout of Rest Areas on Toll Roads
Minister of Public Works (PU) Dody Hanggodo stated that the layout of various rest areas along the Trans Java Toll Road will be evaluated after the 2026 Lebaran mudik and return traffic. The focus is mainly on the rest areas at KM 52 and KM 62, which were temporarily closed during the mudik flow due to causing congestion queues. According to him, the vehicle build-up of mudik travellers at both rest areas was due to overly narrow entry lanes.
After the Lebaran mudik and return traffic, he said the Ministry of PU will form a team tasked with evaluating the layout of rest areas along the toll road.
“Specifically for those two rest areas, they will be redesigned,” said Dody in Semarang, Central Java, on Saturday (28/3/2026).
One focus of the evaluation, he continued, is rest areas not equipped with petrol stations (SPBU) but which must bear a heavy load of toll road vehicles. Through the evaluation conducted, he said, in the future there will be no more mudik vehicle pile-ups entering rest areas.
Thus, according to him, when the toll road load is high, there should no longer be any build-up of road users on the roadside that endangers safety. As for the road conditions during this Lebaran mudik and return traffic, he said repairs are continuously being carried out on pothole points.
“If there is a pothole, it is filled within 24 hours. Do not let the return flow be disrupted,” he said.
Dody Hanggodo also revealed that the condition of the toll road during the 2026 Lebaran holiday period is good.
“Okay, so far it’s good, I was surprised earlier. When I passed by, I checked the shoulder of the road, it’s good,” said Dody in Brebes, Central Java, on Saturday (28/3/2026).
Nevertheless, according to him, there are still some points that need repair.
“There are some points near Brebes that were a bit damaged earlier. Not many, the others are good. Because the shoulder of the road is also good now,” he said.
Dody stated that the Ministry of PU is committed to continuously improving road quality to support public connectivity.
“Now, alhamdulillah, overall it’s smooth. Yesterday I complained about Cipali, but it’s been fixed. So it must always be like that because it’s the rainy season, so work must be continuously done,” he said.
Dody also assessed that the implementation of the 2026 Lebaran mudik and return traffic has overall run relatively more smoothly compared to the previous year, with ongoing monitoring and evaluation until the return flow period ends.
According to him, the smoothness of the mudik and return traffic is inseparable from the synergy of various parties, including infrastructure readiness, traffic management, and government policy support such as Work From Anywhere (WFA) which helps distribute travel times for the public.