Welcome Guest   |  Login   |   Signup
JG Logo
Sat, May 26, 2012
Archive Search

Traffic Surge Prompts Close of Puncak Road Tonight
Vento Saudale | December 31, 2011

Share This Page
0
3
0
1
Share with google+ :


Post a comment
Please login to post comment

Comments

SirAnthonyKnown-Bender
10:59am Dec 31, 2011

Jesus what a nightmare. Like lemmings.

  • Previous
  • 1
  • Next

Some 60,000 vehicles had packed the main road between Bogor and the Puncak hill resort by Friday evening, toll road staff said.

Andri Yusuf, who heads the toll gate at Ciawi at the start of the uphill road that leads to Puncak, said that in the 12 hours starting at 6 a.m. on Friday, more than 62,000 vehicles had passed.

“The line at the toll booth averages about five kilometers,” Andri said.

He said that based on the experience of past years, the number of cars would continue to increase until the road was closed in that direction, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight.

Andri said that the high level of traffic may have been prompted by the knowledge that the road would be closed this evening.

As a result, many people opted to leave for their New Year’s Eve celebrations in Puncak early.

Yasmin Harja, 48, said he had left home in South Tangerang, with his wife and two children a day earlier than planned. He had rented a villa in Cisarua to bring in the new year with his family.

“We wanted to check in tomorrow [Saturday] but then we heard about the plan to close the road at 7 p.m., so we decided to go earlier and spend another night there,” Yasmin said.

Bogor district police chief Adj. Comr. Hery Santoso said that in view of the heavy traffic heading to Puncak, the police had closed the road to traffic coming down towards Bogor.

“Today, we also kept the road open to traffic in one direction only, prioritizing the vehicles going uphill and closing the road to traffic coming downhill,” Hery said.

“We will continue to . . . keep the traffic as smooth as possible along the Puncak road.”

Hery called on drivers to continue obey traffic rules and warned that police would take firm action against violators, including among motorcyclists.

Bogor district chief Rachmat Yasin aired his support for the police’s decision to close the road going uphill to Puncak this evening.

“The decision to close the road in the run-up to New Year is a strategy aimed at enhancing our service to those wanting to celebrate in Puncak,” he said.

He also reminded anyone who planned to spend New Year’s in Puncak to also expect delays and congestion on their return home.