TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Semanggi overpass will be opened to the public tonight, July 28, and the motorcycle will not be allowed to enter. The overpass is predicted to help reduce congestion up to 30 percent in the area.
Jakarta Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat said that motorcyclists are prohibited from entering the road for safety reasons. “The reason is it’s dangerous,” Djarot said Thursday, July 27.
Djarot said that he had also rejected the plan to hold car free days on the Semanggi overpass, citing concern that people might take photographs in dangerous areas.
Read: Semanggi Overpass Soft Launch Scheduled in Late July
“We have to secure the place. People could fall while taking selfies. We have to make sure that no accident would happen here. Because the safety record during the construction was good, there was no accident,” he said.
Djarot is grateful that the Semanggi overpass has been completed on schedule. He said that the overpass is a monumental project in terms of construction technique, acceleration of work as well as funding and lighting.
“It’s extraordinary. It may be unveiled by the president on August 17 [Indonesia’s Independence Day] as a special gift for Jakartans and for the nation,” said the Jakarta Governor.
LARISSA HUDA
