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ublic Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto inaugurated on Friday the Ungaran'€“Bawen toll road, section II of the Semarang'€“Surakarta toll road, which is expected to ease severe traffic problems in the province.

The 11.9-kilometer Ungaran'€“ Bawen toll road will be opened to the public for free for a week as a tryout.

Djoko said the 75.8-kilometer Semarang'€“Surakarta toll road passed through six regions, namely Semarang city, Semarang regency, Salatiga city, Boyolali regency, Karanganyar regency and Sukoharjo regency.

The development of the toll road started in 2009 with a total investment of Rp 7 trillion (US$618 billion).

In total, the toll road comprises five sections: Semarang'€“Ungaran (section I), Ungaran'€“Bawen (section II), Bawen'€“Salatiga (section III), Salatiga'€“Boyolali (section IV) and Boyolali'€“Karanganyar (section V).

Whole sections are initially scheduled to be completed in 2014, but so far, only section II of the project has been completed.

'€œHow long will it take to finish the rest depends on the land acquisition process,'€ Djoko said, asking the Central Java governor to help speed up the land acquisition process.

The operation of the Ungaran- Bawen toll road section received a warm welcome from the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) Semarang regency branch. The association'€™s chairman, Ari Prabono, expressed hope the operation of the Semarang-Surakarta toll road would offer a solution to the traffic congestion.

'€œSmooth transportation will also help the economy not only in Semarang and Solo [as Surakarta is more commonly known] but in surrounding regions,'€ said Ari.

Councilor Sasmito of the Central Java Legislative Council (DPRD) called on heavy vehicles passing through the toll road not to exit the Ungaran toll gate as the road connecting the gate and the highway, namely Jl. Letjen Suprapto, did not have the specification to be used by heavy vehicles.

He expressed hope the toll road management company, PT Trans Marga Jateng (TMJ), would place signs calling on heavy vehicles to exit through the Bawen toll gate instead.

Meanwhile, criticism came from civil engineering lecturer Robert Kodoatie of Semarang Diponegoro University, following the existence of groundwater basins in a number of spots along the toll road that could lead to landslides.

He suggested the water trapped in the basins had to be directly channeled out.

Apart from the Semarang'€“Surakarta toll road, other toll roads are part of the Trans-Java toll road located in Central Java region '€” the Pejagan-Pemalang, Pemalang-Batang, Batang-Semarang and Surakarta-Mantingan toll roads. All are in the process of land acquisition.

The Trans-Java toll road connects Serang, Cirebon (West Java), Semarang, Bawen, Solo (East Java), Kertosono, Mojokerto and Surabaya (East Java).