Ministry to develop new 17-km road to improve access to Mandalika
Monday, May 20 2019 - 07:05 AM WIB
As part of efforts to develop new infrastructure facilities in Mandalika, on Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara Province, which has been granted so-called National Tourism Strategic Area (or KSPN), the government will develop a new highway to help improve access to the area from the Lombok International Airport.
The Ministry of Public Works and People’s Housing said in a statement on Monday that the 17-km “bypass” road will have four lanes and a width of 50-meter, along with road median and sidewalk.
The statement said that construction is expected to start in January 2020, once land acquisition process has been completed, and that the project will be completed in 2021, in time to support the upcoming 2021 MotoGP motorcycle racing event at the Mandalika circuit.
The statement said that President Joko Widodo during a visit Friday in Mandalika has requested for all the required infrastructure facilities for the MotoGP event to be completed by 2021.
The new 17-km bypass road will cut down travel time from the Lombok International Airport to Mandalika to only 15 minutes compared to 30 minutes via the current 7-meter wide road.
The ministry said that total investment for the new road is estimated at Rp 1.45 trillion including Rp 147 billion for land acquisition.
Located in the southern part of Lombok Island, and facing the Indian Ocean, the 1,035-ha Mandalika area, which has obtained the tourism special economic zone (SEZ) status since 2014, making it as priority for development, offers beautiful scenery, exotic culture and marine tourism potential. It is expected that 2 million tourists will visit Mandalika this year.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak