Bali Mandara Toll Road Closes 32 Hours During Nyepi

Bali Mandara Toll Road (PT. JBT Public Relations PHOTO)

DENPASAR - PT Jasamarga Bali Tol (JBT) as a subsidiary of PT Jasa Marga (Persero) Tbk announced the operational closure of the Bali Mandara Toll Road for 32 hours during the celebration of Nyepi Day which falls Monday, March 11.

"The operation of the Bali Mandara Toll Road will be temporarily closed as a whole starting on Sunday (10/3) at 23.00 WITA, and will reopen on Tuesday (12/3) starting at 07.00 WITA after Nyepi Day," said Finance Director of PT Jasamarga Bali Toll I Wayan Eka Saputra, Tuesday, March 5.

The closure aims to honor and support the celebration of Nyepi Day which has an important meaning for Hindus in Bali.

Even though it is closed, the Bali Mandara Toll Road will still be able to be used in emergency situations such as by fire engines, ambulances, and other emergency vehicles.

However, he appealed to the emergency vehicles to always be accompanied by pecalang, namely the traditional village security group or related agencies in accordance with applicable operational standards.

"As long as Nyepi there will still be officers on guard if there is an emergency vehicle passing. So everything will be carried out according to procedures and does not violate standard operating procedures orawig-awig which have been determined," he said.

Wayan Eka Saputra added, in addition to closing during Nyepi Day, the subsidiary of a state-owned company in the field of toll road services also supports a series of Nyepi celebrations, namely the Melasti ceremony at the Pemelasian Village Adat Pedungan on Friday, March 8, 2024.

In supporting the smooth running of the ritual, his party deployed a patrol team and coordinated with the Benoa Police, Traffic Police Main VI Ditlantas Polda Bali, and Pecalang to regulate traffic from the Pesanggaran intersection to Benoa Port to the Melasti location.

"Later, during Melasti, contra flow will be applied while on the Benoa Port access road starting at 05.00 WITA until it is finished," he said.

The access road to the eastern part of the Pertamina depot to the Port to the Melasti location will be used specifically for people who will carry out the Melasti ceremony.

"Meanwhile, the opposite route, from the port to Pesanggaran, functions in two directions or contra flow," he continued.

Meanwhile, the Manager of Operation & Maintenance of PT Jasamarga Bali Tol I Putu Gandi revealed, along with the recovery of the tourism sector in Bali, in 2023 there was an increase in the volume of traffic on the Bali Mandara Toll Road.

The number of vehicles passing reaches 14.2 million, with an average of 38 thousand vehicles per day. This number increased by 61 percent compared to 2022, with a record number of vehicles of 8.7 million or an average of 24 thousand vehicles per day," he said.

Despite the increase, according to him, the volume of traffic in 2023 has not fully recovered after the pandemic. The number of passing vehicles is still lower than the record throughout 2019 which reached 16.3 million with an average of 45 thousand vehicles per day.

"Therefore, we are trying to take proactive steps such as improving service quality and infrastructure to support the improvement and optimization of traffic volume on the Bali Mandara Toll Road," concluded Putu Gandi.