Bali Police say they will be imposing an odd-even traffic system in the island’s south during the upcoming IMF-World Bank annual meetings to take place in Bali.
The opening of the Simpang Tugu Ngurah Rai underpass over the weekend should be a significant help in breaking up congestion for the meetings, scheduled to take place Oct. 8 to 15.
But to really manage the inevitable chock-a-block that will inevitably result from 15,000-17,000 incoming delegates, Bali regional police say that from Oct. 7 to 16, they want to follow Jakarta’s example in the Asian Games of the odd-even rule — which only allows vehicles with odd-numbered plates to use certain major roads during rush hours on odd calendar dates and vice-versa.
The odd-even rule would mainly be applied in the major routes leading to Nusa Dua (so, not all throughout South Bali).
“So our decision from meeting with the Minister of Transportation and the Provincial Transportation Agency will be to do the odd-even rule from October 7 to 16, 2018. For operational hours from 6am-9am and 3pm-7pm there will be a break,” Bali Police Dir. Gen. Comr. Anak Agung Sudana told Detik on Tuesday.
The odd-even conditions will be applied to private vehicles and vehicles carrying cargo and heavy equipment. To reduce traffic flows in the area, especially on Jl. Udayana and Jl. Uluwatu leading to Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) Cultural Park, police have put in a request with the Provincial Department of Education and Badung Regency Government to call off classes at the Jimbaran campus of Udayana University.
“With the solution to close the school on the 12th (of October), we can reduce the burden (of traffic). Surely, because in the south at Udayana campus, there are polytechnic, medicine, veterinary, and law departments. This will automatically reduce the traffic on the way to GWK,” Sudana said.
Exempt from the odd-even rule will be official vehicles, ambulances, tow trucks, yellow plate public transports, special pick-up rental vehicles, and official delegation vehicles. Motorbikes are also exempt from the odd-even rule, according to Sudana.
The following areas will be subject to the odd-even rule:
– Jl. By Pass Ngurah Rai (Simpang Pesanggrahan-Nusa Dua)
– Jl. Raya Uluwatu (Simpang Kali-Uluwatu)
– Jl. Kampus UNUD (Simpang Kampus-Polytechnic)
– Jl. Uluwatu II ( Simpang Bali-Simpang UNUD Ngurah Rai Campus)
– Jl. Siligita (Simpang PDAM-Simpang By pass Ngurah Rai)
