IKN access toll road work 55-percent complete: Jokowi

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated that the progress in the construction of the toll road to support access to the new capital city (IKN Nusantara) has reached 55 percent.

"The progress is almost 55 percent. We hope in June 2024, we can use the toll road," he stated during his visit to review the toll road project in IKN Nusantara, East Kalimantan, as accessed from a broadcast video on Wednesday.

Currently, the travel time to reach IKN Nusantara via the Balikpapan-Samarinda toll road is two hours and 15 minutes. With the IKN access toll road, traveling to IKN Nusantara can be shortened to around 50 minutes over a distance of 57 kilometers, he explained.

The head of state remarked that construction of the IKN Nusantara access toll road helps to accelerate the mobility of people and goods to and from IKN.

In addition, security along the toll road and rest areas have also been prepared, he stated.

Jokowi then remarked that 60 thousand endemic Kalimantan trees would be planted along the toll road.

"We want to beautify the toll road with greenery by planting endemic trees from Kalimantan," he noted.

Construction of the IKN toll road is divided into three routes, namely the IKN toll road KKT Kariangau-Simpang Tempadung segment; IKN toll road segment Simpang Tempadung-Balang Island Bridge; and the IKN toll road Karangjoang-KKT Kariangau segment.

The IKN access toll road is one of the basic infrastructures in IKN for which construction has been accelerated by the Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Ministry to support connectivity and begin moving the country's capital from Jakarta to IKN Nusantara in stages next year.

Apart from the access toll road, President Jokowi also attended the IKN airport groundbreaking on Wednesday to support activities and people's mobility from and to IKN Nusantara.