Jakarta outer ring road officially opens

Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo and Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto officially inaugurated the Jakarta Outer Ring Road West 2 on Friday, though one section of the road remains incomplete.

As of Friday, 5.73 kms of the 7.7 kms long road, or the section serving Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, to Ciledug, South Jakarta, is functional.

Sonhadji Surahman, president director of Marga Lingkar Jakarta, a subsidiary of state-owned toll road operator Jasa Marga, said the road had passed a worthiness test conducted by the Public Works Ministry and the Transportation Ministry.

Investment on the project — of which construction started on Oct. 21, 2011 and was divided into 4 sections — totaled Rp 2.2 trillion (US$180 million), he said.

Sonhadji also predicted that around 30,000 vehicles would use the road every day.

The first 3 sections of the road have been completed, though the 4th section is only 47% done due to a land acquisition issue.

Joko said that the city government still has to acquire 9 plots of land, 8 of which are still being settled. The 9th plot’s price is still being negotiated. He expects all of the land acquisition issues to be settled by February 2014.

When it is fully operational, JORR W2 will connect with four other toll roads: Jakarta-Cikampek, Jakarta-Tangerang, Jakarta-Serpong and the Prof. Dr. Sedyatmo toll road serving Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

The JORR W2 will remain free until Jan. 1, when the tariff kicks in.