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ublic Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto inaugurated the II A segment of the Bogor Outer Ring Road (BORR) connecting Kedung Halang and Kedung Badak in Northern Bogor, West Java, on Friday, with the expectation it would encourage the development of a buffer area in Greater Jakarta and help ease traffic in Bogor city.

He said during the inauguration ceremony that the ring road development was a government effort to improve road network capacity and encourage the development of a buffer zone in Greater Jakarta.

According to him, the development was in line with the Master Plan on the Metropolitan Priority Area (MPA) of Greater Jakarta, one of the programs to develop the road network in Jakarta and surrounding areas.

Meanwhile, PT Marga Sarana Jabar, which managed the Rp 350 billion (US$30.09 million) project and operates the tollroad, said the BORR segment was expected to ease traffic in three prone-to-congestion points, namely at the Kedung Halang intersection, Ciliwung Bridge and the railroad crossing near Cilebut road.

The BORR project consists of three segments with a total length of 11 kilometers. The first segment, connecting Sentul and Kedung Halang, has a total length of 3.8 km and has been operated since Nov. 23, 2009.

The second segment, the connecting the Kedung Halang and Yasmin intersection, is divided into two subsegments. The first is the II A segment with a total length of 1.95 km, while the second is the II B segment with a total length of 2 km.

The third segment, which will connect the Yasmin intersection and Darmaga, will have a total length of 3.2 km.

The BORR, which has already been connected with the Jagorawi toll road on its east side, is projected to also be connected with the Depok-Antasari toll road, now under construction, on its west side in the future.

Djoko said the second segment was really an elevated tollroad that was expected to reduce traffic disruption on the national road below Jl. KH Sholeh Iskandar.

'€œI hope the operational of the II A segment will spur and accelerate the development of the II B segment and the third segment,'€ he said.

Meanwhile, Marga Sarana Jabar president director Muhammad Zahir Siregar said the construction of II B segment was still awaiting basic design approval from the Public Works Ministry and its Toll Road Regulatory Agency (BPJT). (ask)