Unraveling The Density Of Cilegon Police For Parking Pockets At Merak Harbor

Queue of vehicles at Merak/Photo: Antara

CILEGON - Cilegon Police Chief AKBP Sigit Haryono said the police created a parking bag in the Jalan Cikuasa Atas area to reduce the density of vehicles at Merak Harbor when the peak of the homecoming flow began on Friday April 29. So if the situation at the dock is empty, we will send a number of vehicles. For that we continue to coordinate with ASDP," said Sigit at the Merak branch of PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry Office, Cilegon, Banten, early Saturday, April 30. The 2002 Police Academy graduate said that travelers from Cikuasa Atas were not only directed to Merak Harbor, but also to the additional port provided, namely Pelabuhan Indah Kiat. In addition to the parking location, the Cilegon Police have also implemented an open and closed system in Cikuasa Atas so that the traffic jams that are getting longer can be eased. This is because, according to Sigit, until Saturday morning, the density of vehicles going to Merak Harbor snaking up to kilometer 94 of the Tangerang-Merak toll road or about four kilometers before the Merak Toll Gate. "The tail of the traffic jam has reached kilometer 94," said the middle-ranking police officer from Central Java, quoted by Antara. from Friday 29 April evening to Saturday 30 April morning. The majority of vehicles are private cars, buses and motorbikes.

This situation creates a traffic jam, which makes the police apply several methods to break it down. In addition to opening and closing lanes and creating temporary parking pockets, traffic diversion is also carried out in toll areas. However, as a result, there is a lot of vehicle congestion at some points. The current condition depends on the crossing flow," said Sigit. General Manager (GM) of PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry Merak branch, Lutfi Pratama, admitted that there was an increase in the number of vehicles going to Merak Port. Lutfi said that there were around 32,000 vehicles that entered Merak Port within 24 hours from Friday (29/4) to Saturday (30/4) early in the morning. However, he said there is a possibility that it will not be the highest peak of going home in 2022. “That is higher than in 2019 at the same time, which is in the range of 20 thousand vehicles. However, we still predict Saturday (30/4) tonight to be the peak, because tomorrow is a holiday. Of course we have anticipated these things,” said Lutfi.