PUPR Minister Basuki Hadimuljono Targets Semarang-Demak Toll Road Section II Opened At The End Of This Week

Minister of PUPR Basuki Hadimuljono. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Basuki Hadimuljono targets the Semarang-Demak Section II Toll Road to be opened functionally on November 18, 2022.

He said the functional opening of the toll road was very important to help unravel congestion on North Coast Road (Pantura), which is currently being replaced by the Callendar Hamilton (CH) Wonokerto Bridge.

"The construction is good, it can be maximized for large vehicles such as buses and trucks. So that the Pantura national road does not get too jammed as an effort to improve services to the community," said PUPR Minister Basuki in his statement in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Monday, November 14.

The trial opening of the Semarang-Demak Toll Road Section II has been carried out since Friday 12 November at 15.00 WIB with the scheme of opening and closing in one direction/lanjur.

Basuki also instructed the construction of the 60-meter-long CH Wonokerto Bridge, which is currently 59.89 percent accelerated.

"I ask for an accelerated work with better management. Because the location of this bridge in Pantura is jammed, if not planned properly it will be slow," he said.

The Semarang - Demak toll road has a length of 26.95 km which was built in 2 sections through the Business Entity Cooperation scheme with the Government (KPBU), namely Section 1 for the Semarang / Kaligawe-Sayung segment along 10.39 km into the government portion (APBN) with a cost requirement of Rp. 10 trillion. Meanwhile, Section 2 for the Sayung-Demak section is 16.31 km portion of the Toll Road Business Entity (BUJT) PT. Semarang Demak Housing Development.

For Section 1 a contract has been carried out with an elevated bridge construction package for Kaligawe, elevated roads, and pile slabs for 1A, sea and main road embankments, on/off ramps, Babon and Sayung River Bridges as well as rest areas and toll gates for 1B, construction of Terboyo Retention Ponds around 189 hectares and Sriwulan about 28 hectares, Terboyo and Sriwulan Pump Houses for 1C.

In Section 1, a 400-meter embankment trial is currently being carried out with a progress of 48.89 percent and is expected to be completed in January 2023. Meanwhile, Section 2 Development is being carried out by PT PP-PT WIKA Consortium Maratama-Study Engineering (KSO) and Supervision Consultant PT Virama Karya (Persero) with an investment value of IDR 5.44 trillion.

It is hoped that with the construction of the toll road which is integrated with the sea wall, the problem of tidal flooding in East Semarang, especially Kaligawe - Sayung, can be resolved by the end of 2023.