The Governor of West Java (West Java) Ridwan Kamil encourages the acceleration of infrastructure development including roads and bridges in his region. In a meeting with the Director General (Dirjen) of Bina Marga Sugiyartanto on Wednesday (1/16), Ridwan among others asked about the progress of the construction of a number of toll roads in West Java.

 The progress of the toll roads discussed included the Ciawi-Sukabumi toll road and the Cileunyi-Sumedang-Dawuan (Cisumdawu) toll road and the Sukabumi-Padalarang toll road construction plan and the Cileunyi-Garut-Tasik (Cigatas) toll road. In addition, Ridwan also expects road access support related to the plan to establish Pangadari as a Special Economic Zone / National Tourism Zone (KEK / KSPN) in the near future.

"As a new Governor, I will bring a new tradition of being diligent in coming to the Ministry, to parse because it turns out that what the Ministry of PUPR is doing is overwhelming. But sometimes we don't know, is there any progress whether there is a smooth and non-smooth problem, hopefully with the frequent coming here I will encourage the Ministry of PUPR, that the Governor of West Java is concerned about infrastructure issues, "Ridwan said.

The meeting was attended by Director of Road Network Development (PJJ) Rachman Arief Dienaputra and Director of Freeway, Urban, Regional Road Facilitation (JBHPFJD) Hedi Rahadian and present representatives from the Directorate General of Water Resources and DG Cipta Karya.

Sugiyartanto explained that after the operation of the Trans Java toll road on the north side at the end of last year, the government began to work on the south side of the Trans Java toll road. He further said, for Section I Ciawi-Cigombong along 15.35 Km has been operating since December 2018.

Hedi Rahadian added, for Sections II, III and IV, his party continued to accelerate with the hope that it would be completed in 2020. "We will try to reach Sukaraja in 2020," continued Hedi.

He said, parallel with the Ciawi-Sukabumi toll road construction, the government had also begun preparations for the completion of the toll road, namely Sukabumi-Ciranjang (30 Km) and Ciranjang-Padalarang (27 Km).

While for the Cigatas toll road, the Director General of Highways said that the toll road section has been included in the National Strategic Project (PSN). He hopes that work can begin soon in the near future. When it is operational later, vehicles going to Bandung or other southern areas can cross the toll road section. The line will become a new choice for the community in addition to the Purwakarta-Bandung-Cileunyi toll road.

"The route design is being prepared, this will also continue until Cilacap," Hedi added.

In the meeting with the Governor of West Java, Hedi also said that the Cigatas toll road section, which is estimated to reach 107-126 km in length, could support a toll road to Pangandaran area. This is in line with the government's desire to make Pangandaran a new KSPN.

Meanwhile, for the construction of the Cisumdawu toll road, Hedi said that this year, construction of an interchange connecting the end of the Padalarang-Cileunyi (Padaleunyi) toll road to the Cisumdawu toll road. He estimates that this will result in traffic congestion in the vicinity of Cileunyi. This is part of the construction of the Cileunyi-Cipeles segment.

"This year, Cileunyi will become more populous, because we will start to build interchanges from Padaleunyi to Cisumdawu. The contract has been signed, the plan will be completed in 2020, "he said.

Hedi added, his party was also working on this year, being able to open and function the Cisumdawu segment, Cipeles-Cimalaka. The 15 km road was opened as an anticipatory step if the road around Cadas Pangeran, Sumedang was threatened with interruption due to cracks. The Directorate General of Highways plans to open the road before the 2019 Lebaran homecoming trip. (Kompubm)