Good News From North Sulawesi, Manado-Bitung Toll Road Fully Operated Soon, Travel Time Of 39.9 Km Only 30 Minutes!

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - PT Jasamarga Manado Bitung (JMB) has completed the construction of Section 2B of the Danowudu-Bitung Section so that the Manado-Bitung Toll Road is expected to be ready for full operation.

PT JMB President Director Charles Lendra explained that by connecting all segments from Manado to Bitung, it would accelerate the flow of goods and people in North Sulawesi.

"With the operation of Section 2B of the Danowudu-Bitung Section, the Manado-Bitung Toll Road is ready to be fully operated. The construction progress for section 2B has reached 100 percent and the Feasibility Test (ULF) has been carried out in early January 2022 and has received a Feasibility Certificate Operation (SLO) by the Director General of Highways of the Ministry of PUPR," Charles said in a written statement, quoted from Antara, Monday, February 21.

He said the full connectivity of the Manado-Bitung Toll Road is expected to have a positive impact on increasing the volume of toll road traffic by referring to the feasibility level of the toll road according to the PPJT business plan.

PT JMB, as a business group of PT Jasa Marga (Persero) Tbk which manages the Manado Bitung Toll Road, has completed the final stage of construction of the Manado Bitung Toll Road, namely Section 2B of the Danowudu-Bitung Section along the 13.65 km. With the operation of the last section of the 39.9 Km toll road section, the Manado-Bitung Toll Road is ready to fully operate, complementing the other three 26.35 Km sections which were operated in 2020.

When operating later, there will be a new toll gate as public access to enter the Manado-Bitung Toll Road, namely the Bitung Toll Gate (GT) which is connected to Jalan Ir. Soekarno which is the closest access to Bitung International Port.

"By connecting Manado to Bitung toll roads, it will make it easier for people to move and distribute goods between the two cities. Moreover, this can be a new hope for accelerating the completion of the Bitung Special Economic Zone (SEZ) because basically the feasibility of the Manado-Bitung Toll Road also depends on the development of the surrounding area, one of which is through the realization of the development of the Bitung SEZ. In addition, the addition of the Bitung Toll Gate is expected to increase public access to various strategic locations and tourist destinations in North Sulawesi," said Charles.

The Manado-Bitung Toll Road will cut travel time significantly between Manado and Bitung. If previously the travel time between the two cities via the national road was around 1.5 hours, then the travel time via the Manado-Bitung Toll Road is only about 30 minutes so as to create efficient mobility of people and goods.

Overall, the total length of the Manado-Bitung Toll Road is 39.9 Km which was built with the concept of Government-Business Cooperation (PPP). This toll road consists of two sections, Section 1 Manado-Airmadidi along (14 Km) which was built by the Government and Section 2 Airmadidi-Bitung (25 Km) which was built by PT JMB.

With the addition of one new toll gate, the Manado-Bitung Toll Road will have a total of five toll gates, namely GT Manado, GT Airmadidi, GT Kauditan, GT Danowudu, and GT Bitung.

It is hoped that the full operation of this toll road will facilitate access to the Bitung International Port, the Bitung Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to support the Manado-Bitung-Likupang National Tourism Strategic Area (KSPN).

The existence of the first toll road in North Sulawesi is expected to improve regional connectivity and investment competitiveness in the province of North Sulawesi.