Contraflow traffic plan lauded

Smooth trip: Motorists use the additional lane along the Cawang–Semanggi toll road during morning rush hour on Tuesday. The Jakarta Police and toll road operator PT Jasa Marga started the trial of its contraflow traffic plan to ease gridlock in the eastern part of the city. JP/P.J. LeoCawang–Semanggi toll-road users welcomed the first day’s implementation of a contraflow plan on Tuesday, adding that such a move, if consistently implemented, would make their mornings better.

Zaki Yanuar, who took the new lane to work at 8 a.m. on Jl. Gatot Subroto, deemed that the trial period was well prepared.

“There are enough road signs and officers guiding the drivers. It is a good beginning for the new plan,” said the resident of Cililitan, East Jakarta.

The Jakarta Police and state toll road operator PT Jasa Marga started the trial to ease congestion in the eastern part of the city.

Under the plan, private vehicles coming from the east, from the direction of Cawang and heading toward Semanggi, would be allowed to travel in one lane typically dedicated for eastbound traffic.

During the 14 days of the trial period, the contraflow scheme will be implemented from Kilometer 3.05 of the toll road, located in front of the Bank Bukopin building in Tegal Parang, South Jakarta, to Kilometer 8.6 in front of Taman Ria Senayan.

The contraflow lane users could use two exits, at Kilometer 7.15, near the Museum Satria Mandala and at Kilometer 8.6. The police and the toll operator prepared 400 traffic cones to separate the contraflow lane from regular lanes, as well as preparing 31 road signs to assist toll road users.

Some bus drivers also welcomed the implementation of the plan even though large vehicles were prohibited from using the lane as they experienced smoother traffic.

Mita Siswanti, who was driving her mother Yuliana to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at 7:30 a.m., said that she could feel a better flow on the roll road. “Usually, the morning congestion in Cawang toll road is unbearable,” she said.

“Maybe there are less people traveling with their cars today. So the toll road was emptier than usual,” said the resident of Lenteng Agung, South Jakarta. “Let’s see what happens to the plan if the traffic gets back to normal.”

A study conducted by Jasa Marga and the police estimates that the scheme might potentially reduce traffic congestion by 20 percent.

According to the Traffic Police Directorate, around 15,000 vehicles pass along the toll road between Cawang and Semanggi between 6:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. on weekdays.

Jasa Marga corporate secretary Okke Merlina said that his company had yet to specifically count cars
accessing the lane on the first day of the trial period.

“Our main concern is to reduce the crowded Cawang–Semanggi toll road in the morning. So far, all we can say is that the trial has gone well and has been accepted by road users,” she said.