Vehicle traffic on Cirebon's North Coast road continues to increase ahead of Eid exodus peak
Cirebon — The Cirebon City Police Resort reports that vehicle traffic heading towards Cirebon, West Java, particularly on the North Coast Road (Pantura) section, is continuing to increase as the Eid exodus approaches its peak during 2026.
“We can see that increases are already becoming apparent on both arterial routes and toll sections,” said Cirebon City Police Resort Chief AKBP Eko Iskandar in Cirebon on Monday.
He stated that based on police forecasts, the peak exodus period is estimated to occur between 18 and 19 March 2026, including in the Cirebon region.
Based on real-time traffic data calculations from the Cirebon City Transport Authority, the total number of vehicles passing through the Pantura route in Cirebon City from H-7 to H-5 Eid reached approximately 168,000 units.
Nevertheless, Eko confirmed that traffic flow conditions on Cirebon’s Pantura road remain relatively smooth at present with no significant congestion yet.
On toll roads, according to him, the movement of exodus travellers is becoming more noticeable at particular times, such as the early morning hours until just before dawn prayers and pre-dawn meal times.
He assessed that some travellers are taking advantage of the early morning period to make their journey whilst also having their pre-dawn meal during travel.
The police force is maintaining anticipatory measures, including the blocking of three-axle vehicles on both toll and arterial routes in accordance with the policy on restricting goods vehicle operations during the exodus period.
“Three-axle vehicles are already being blocked on toll and arterial routes in accordance with applicable decisions, though we continue to do this in a humane and preventive manner,” he said.
Additionally, police have prepared a number of temporary parking areas to accommodate vehicles should there be a surge in traffic flow in the region.
He added that the force has also prepared traffic engineering scenarios for arterial routes should there be an increase in vehicle volume due to the implementation of a one-way system on toll roads.
According to him, the implementation of the one-way system on toll roads is still awaiting instructions from the National Police Traffic Corps, whilst on arterial routes officers have prepared a staged management plan.
“Should there be an increase due to traffic being diverted from the toll road, we will implement staged measures, ranging from manual traffic direction to traffic engineering at specific points,” he said.
Eko emphasised that such engineering measures could include temporary closures at junctions or U-turn locations to maintain smooth traffic flow and prevent total gridlock.
“We want to ensure that traffic flow continues uninterrupted and does not become stuck. For this reason, we also request public understanding if traffic engineering measures are implemented in the field,” he said.