Pekanbaru ring road: New capital to boost Riau's economy
This article has been translated by PwC Indonesia as part of our Indonesia Infrastructure News Service. PwC Indonesia has not checked the accuracy of, and accepts no responsibility for the content.
Bisnis Indonesia - Tol lingkar Pekanbaru: Modal anyar untuk pacu ekonomi Riau
22 August 2023
By: Arif Gunawan & Oktaviano Donald Baptista
Pekanbaru - The construction realisation of Pekanbaru ring road section of Rengat-Pekanbaru toll segment has become a new capital for Riau Province to handle several challenges and optimise the region’s economic potential.
Pekanbaru ring road section (Pekanbaru Junction-Pekanbaru Bypass) is a part of the second stage of Trans-Sumatra Toll Road (JTTS), specifically of Rengat-Pekanbaru segment that is predicted to operate at the end of 2024. PT Hutama Karya (Persero) ensures that the project will be realised soon.
Hutama Karya Operations Director III Koentjoro explained that the contract of the toll road project spanning 30.57 kilometres was scheduled to be signed at the end of this month at the soonest. The project will be worked on by Hutama Karya’s subsidiary, PT Hutama Karya Infrastruktur (HKI).
“The project’s contract will be signed at the end of August or in early September,” he explained on Monday (21/8).
Pekanbaru ring road section is planned to be fitted with various structures, which include 3 underpasses, 6 overpasses, 3 interchanges, 3 toll gates, and a couple of type A rest areas.
The toll road construction will also be supported by digital construction technologies, which include building information modelling (BIM) and light detection and ranging (LiDAR), to obtain accurate measurement results, make construction more efficient, and produce quality results.
Meanwhile, to address the soft soil challenge, the toll road project will use the prefabricated vertical drain (PVD) technology, preload the heap soil, and use pile slabs on top of the soft soil that are stuck 10 metres below the ground.
Later, the toll road will be connected to three toll segments of JTTS, namely Rengat-Pekanbaru toll segment, Pekanbaru-Bangkinang toll segment, and Pekanbaru-Dumai toll segment. The last two toll roads that have been operated by Hutama Karya have a significant amount of traffic.
Hutama Karya reported that Pekanbaru-Bangkinang toll segment spanning 31 km was used by 5,477 vehicles in July 2023, while Pekanbaru-Dumai toll segment spanning 151 km was used by 17,917 vehicles.
Koentjoro said that Pekanbaru ring road section would improve infrastructure connectivity on Sumatra Island, especially in Riau Province. He explained that the toll section would improve the distribution of goods and services from West Sumatra to Riau.
The new infrastructure will also reduce traffic jams in Pekanbaru City. Logistics vehicles going from West Sumatra to North Sumatra can directly go through the toll section.
Besides that, Pekanbaru ring road section will also facilitate connectivity to various tourism destinations, including Muara Takus Temple.
“We hope that the connection of the toll road can stimulate economic growth and make Riau Province the epicentrum of Sumatra,” he revealed.
President Joko Widodo previously said that Pekanbaru ring road section would complete several JTTS toll segments that go through Riau and boost the number of new economic centres in the region. He also hopes that the infrastructure network will boost the competitiveness of products from Bumi Lancang Kuning.
“Later, the toll segment [Pekanbaru-Bangkinang] will be connected to Pekanbaru ring road [section] from Dumai, Pekanbaru, and Bangkinang to Padang,” Jokowi said when he inaugurated Pekanbaru-Bangkinang toll segment on 4 January 2023.
Head of Presidential Staff Deputy I Febry Calvin said that the construction of Pekanbaru ring road section was a priority as the project connects three JTTS segments.
“Hence, connectivity in Riau Province will improve to support logistics distribution and the public’s mobility,” Febry said when he conducted a work visit to Pekanbaru last May.
Multiple impacts
The central government’s effort to strengthen connectivity on Sumatra Island, especially with JTTS, is starting to have multiple impacts on regional economy, including Riau’s. Hence, the realisation of Pekanbaru ring road section has become a new capital for Riau to handle several economic development challenges.
Riau Province Regional Secretary SF Hariyanto hopes that the toll section’s construction will sustain economic growth in the region. The section is believed to ease transportation access and distribution service nodes from and to economic centres.
“Obviously, [it] will increase the public’s economic growth [and] smooth out logistics supply [in regions] where the toll road passes through so that [they] can develop rapidly,” he revealed.
He admits that massive infrastructure development will be a capital for Riau to advance. “Representing Bumi Lancang Kuning, I want to thank the central government,” Harianto said.
Meanwhile, an economist from Universitas Riau, Edyanus Herman Halim, admits that the operation of Pekanbaru-Dumai and Pekanbaru-Bangkinang toll segments has positively impacted the people and boosted the region’s economic growth.
“Hence, Riau’s economy is improving. The distance between cities, especially to Dumai that has a port, will be closer,” he said.
According to him, the central government’s effort to expand the infrastructure network in Sumatra will impact the tourism sector in the region. JTTS will increase tourist visits to West Sumatra and Riau.
“Pekanbaru can start to attract tourist visits by constructing man-made tourism objects, similar to Johor in Malaysia that has an international family playground that is flocked by tourists from Indonesia and neighbouring countries.”
Riau Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Executive Director Kholis Romli has reminded the regional government to prepare supporting facilities in the tourism sector. He revealed that the new toll segments would increase tourism visits in the region.
According to him, the regional government must seize the opportunity by organising and adding more supporting facilities for tourists who want to take a vacation and travel to Riau.
Besides that, the construction of Pekanbaru ring road section is reckoned to be an additional solution for Riau’s capital to reduce traffic jams that occur due to the number of trucks that travel the area.
Previously, Pekanbaru Local Government prepared a policy that bans trucks from using city roads at certain times. Violation would result in the revocation of the operating permit of the heavy load truck owner.
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