Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has inaugurated the 12.7-km toll road in Bali in the run-up to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting on the island next month.
The public will not be charged to use the toll road for the next week.
The US$220 million highway connects Benoa-Kuta-Nusa Dua and is expected to ease severe traffic congestion connecting the airport to the island’s hotel and resort enclaves.
It is predicted that daily traffic on the new road will reach 39,000 vehicles per day, more than half of which will be motorcycles.
The toll road runs over water, parts of it through an area of previously pristine mangrove forest.
The road has a separate lane for motorcycles, making it Indonesia’s second toll road that allows motorcycles.
