Review of the Serdang-Bojonegara-Merak Road Improvement, PU Minister Assures There Will Be an Additional Lane

SERANG - Minister of Public Works (PU) Dody Hanggodo directly reviewed the repair of the Serdang-Bojonegara-Merak Road in Serang Regency, Banten Province.

Based on VOI's monitoring at the location, Monday, June 6, Dody was present at around 18.40 WIB shortly after Banten Governor Andra Soni arrived.

In his review, Dody seemed to listen to an explanation from Banten Governor Andra Soni and regional officials regarding the urgency of repairing the road. The reason is, Soni said, the section has a direct impact on community mobility and logistics distribution.

"The main thing for us is that the public's interests, (such as) schoolchildren passing through here, to health facilities through here. And they are earlier than the industries that are here. We should have prepared the existing facilities when we built the industrial area," said Soni at the location.

He added that the review conducted by the Minister of PU today showed the seriousness of the central government in handling damaged roads.

"The presence of the Minister (Dody Hanggodo) here shows optimism that the people's expectations are heard by us and then the technical solution must begin," he said.

Acting Director of Regional Preservation 1 of the Directorate General of Road Construction of the Ministry of PU Vidi Ferdian said that the section became a heavy vehicle traffic access from or to the Bojonegara industrial area, mines / quarries and BBJ Port.

"This is a national road, the Serdang-Bojonegoro-Merak route is approximately 31.42 kilometers long. Well, we want to handle it because the road is damaged 18.93 kilometers," he said.

Vidi said, the State Budget (APBN) allocated for the project was IDR 138 billion with a multiple year contract (MYC) scheme 2025-2027.

"Well, this is the job until 2027," he explained.

The road repair is using concrete pavement with a thickness of 30 centimeters.

On the same occasion, Dody said the government plans to widen the road section of the Banten industrial area to four lanes to reduce congestion and improve road user safety.

In the initial phase, road widening can only be carried out by utilizing the available road boundary space.

"What exists is only the land border. So, we are expanding about 1 meter to the right and 1 meter to the left, so that the total width becomes 11 meters," said Dody.

According to Dody, one of the obstacles to adding lanes on the section is the many buildings on the side of the road.

Therefore, the local government will assist the land acquisition process, while the central government prepares a funding scheme.

He hopes that the widening of the road can be realized immediately so that people's activities are not disturbed by the traffic of logistics vehicles.

According to the Democratic Party politician, the road is used by the community for various activities, such as going to schools and hospitals as well as being the main route to industrial areas, ports and stone mines.

"The younger siblings who go to school, our friends who go to the hospital and so on can still use this road safely. But on the other hand, industry and business must also move so that the economy in Banten will be more advanced and developed," he said.

When asked about the budget needs, Dody said the central government was still waiting for the Detailed Engineering Design (DED) documents to be officially submitted.

"We will first see the DED (after that), I will talk to the Ministry of PPN/Head of Bappenas (regarding funding)," explained Dody.

In addition to road widening, Dody said, the construction of a bridge is also included in the project plan. Meanwhile, street lighting can be included in one work package if it is needed.