The President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo accompanied by the Minister of PUPR, Basuki Hadimuljono launched the Banda Aceh - Sigli Toll Road on Friday (13/12) in Blang Bintang, Aceh. The first toll road in the Province of Nanggoe Aceh Darussalam is 74km long and is planned to be operational in 2021 with daily traffic of more than 3,000 vehicles per day.

 The Aceh - Sigli Toll Road consists of 6 sections namely Section 1 Padang Tiji-Seulimeum (25.7 km), Section 2 Seulimeum-Jantho (6.3 km), Section 3 Jantho-Indrapuri (16 km), Section 4 Indrapuri-Blang Bintang (13.5 km), Section 5 Blang Bintang-Kuto Baro (7.7 km), and Section 6 Kuto Baro-Simpang Baitussalam (4.8 km). This toll road is part of the Trans Sumatra Toll Road that connects Aceh to Lampung and is planned to be fully connected in 2024.

 The President revealed that at first many doubted when they first began building the Trans Sumatra Bakauheni Toll Road to Terbanggi Besar. But in reality the segment will be inaugurated soon.

 "I am sure that in 2024 from Bakauheni up to this point it will be connected. But of course it needs support from the regional government so that land acquisition can be quickly completed. Because the biggest problem with road construction is land acquisition," the President said in his remarks.


FO Simpang Surabaya and Berawe Underpass are Inaugurated

On the same occasion, President Jokowi also inaugurated the Fly Over (FO) Surabaya Intersection and Berawe Underpass. Both infrastructures valued at 250 billion rupiah were built using State Sharia Securities (SBSN) funds with a multi-year contract pattern of 2015-2018. The construction of the FO Simpang Surabaya and Berawe Underpass to reduce congestion due to the dense traffic flow in the city of Banda Aceh and is in the connecting link between the eastern crossing with the Malahayati port which is a strategic development area.

 For information, FO Simpang Surabaya has a length of 881 meters and a width of 16.5 meters. While the length of the Berawe underpass is 202 meters and the width is 10.4 meters. Director General (Dirjen) of Bina Marga, Sugiyartanto, who conducted a field visit shortly before the two infrastructures were inaugurated stated that the existence of FO and underpass really helped reduce congestion problems.

 "Currently the city of Banda Aceh is transforming from a large city to a metropolitan city. As a result, an increase in the frequency of vehicle usage. With the existence of FO and underpass this will certainly reduce the level of congestion," said Sugi.

 Sugi added that overall, the stability of roads in Aceh had reached 95% so that the roads were already good. However, there are several areas in Aceh that are prone to landslides due to weather problems, and they have prepared heavy equipment near these hazardous locations to prepare for disaster anticipation. (KompuBM)