Thousands of travelers in West and Central Java were stuck in traffic jams that were as long as 10 kilometers on Wednesday, as motorcyclists and drivers thronged the nation’s highways for the journey home for Idul Fitri.

Traffic began to ease in the afternoon along the busy Jakarta-Cikampek toll road, which had been closed several times during the day and the traffic redirected to alternative routes.

“Traffic is smooth,” Cikampek toll road official Mulyadi told kompas.com on Wednesday. More than 40,000 cars had passed along the toll road in the 24-hour period ending Wednesday at 6 a.m., he said.

Police said that 128 have died in 643 traffic accidents since the start of the holiday travel season on Sept. 3.

“The 643 traffic accidents killed 128, severely injured 165 and lightly injured 325,” National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Marwoto Soeto told detiknews.com on Wednesday.

Most of the accidents involved automobiles and occurred in Banten, Central Java, East Java, Jakarta, Lampung, West Java and Yogyakarta, according to the police.

“The estimated damages are Rp 1.9 billion [US$211,111],” Boy said.

In West Java, vehicles were backed up for 10 kilometers at the Cileunyi toll gate, the last exit for the Cikampek-Purwakarta-Padalarang turnpike that connects Jakarta and Bandung.

Cianjur resident Deni Hidayat, 38, said he wanted to return to Tasikmalaya for Idul Fitri but had been trapped by congestion ever since he exited the Cileunyi toll gate, where traffic had been backed up for 5 kilometers.

“We didn’t imagine traffic would be like this since TV reports said that Idul Fitri homeward bound traffic was still smooth,” Deni said.

Police redirected traffic from the highway to an alternate route: from Cileunyi to the Jatinangor-Sumedang-Wado highway to Tasikmalaya and then to Central Java.

Officials predicted that at least 2.4 million homeward bound travelers and 600,000 vehicles would travel West Java’s northern and southern routes for Idul Fitri, an increase of 300,000 compared to last year’s 2.1 million travelers.

Motorists heading east moved at a snail’s pace along the recently completed Nagrek ring road in Bandung regency.

The journey along the ring road, which normally takes 30 minutes, took more than six hours on Wednesday.

Several problems, such as stalled trucks due to steep inclines and rain-induced soil erosion, were blamed for delays along the road, which started operation just seven days before Idul Fitri. The new route had been closed several times after rain caused runoff that coated the road with gravel.

Bandung Transportation Office head Yayan Subarna said the Nagrek traffic command post recorded 28,000 cars and buses on the ring road on Wednesday.

Traffic volume in Nagrek began to rise Tuesday night as people started to prepare for Idul Fitri, he said.

“It seems like everyone had the same plan — returning home on Tuesday night and early Wednesday,” he said.

Thousands of motorcyclists thronged the Pantura northern coastal highway that connects West and Central Java.

Cirebon transportation office’s holiday traffic command post reported 16,000 vehicles have passed through the regency since the start of the exodus, 75 percent of which were motorcycles.

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