JAKARTA. After months of indecision, Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has finally agreed to the plan to construct six new elevated inner-city toll roads after receiving a thorough explanation from the Public Works Ministry.

According to the governor, the capital is in dire need of new roads to support public transportation and thus has given a green light to the toll-road project, initiated during the term of former governor Sutiyoso.

Despite heavy criticism from urban experts, who claimed the new toll roads would have no positive effect on eradicating the city’s traffic problems as they would only encourage more people to use private motor vehicles, Jokowi decided to give the project the green light, saying that an improvement in public transportation alone would not be sufficient to tackle the crippling traffic congestion in the city.

“So there is no single solution [to the traffic problems]. We have to do both [improve public transportation and add new roads],” he said as quoted by tempo.co on Thursday,

The new roads will not only accommodate private vehicles but also public transportation, such as the Transjakarta Bus Rapid Transit system and public minibuses, according to Jokowi.

Public transportation, however, would be exempt from toll fees, he said.

The elevated toll road project, at a predicted cost of Rp 42 trillion (US$4.3 billion), is expected to begin next year under the auspices of PT Jakarta Tollroad Development (JTD).

The 67-kilometer-long inner-city toll road network will connect all five of Jakarta’s municipalities.

The first phase of construction will include the 17.8-kilometer route from Semanan, West Jakarta to Sunter, North Jakarta, and the 11-kilometer route from Sunter to Bekasi.

Duri Pulo, Central Jakarta, and Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta, as well as Kampung Melayu and Kemayoran, East Jakarta, will be linked in the second phase of the toll-road construction process.

The third part of the project will connect Ulujami, South Jakarta, to Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, and the fourth will connect Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, to the Casablanca area of South Jakarta. (The Jakarta Post)

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Editor: Edy Can