PT Hutama Karya (Persero) is optimistic that the company will complete the Pekanbaru - Padang toll road project this year. The company is currently working on a 40 km long Pekanbaru - Bangkinang toll road, which is part of the supporting corridor (fin) of the Trans Sumatra Toll Road, the 254 km length Pekanbaru Padang toll road.

"The construction work on the Pekanbaru - Bangkinang toll road is quite progressive. Until now, the construction progress has reached 56%. Meanwhile, the land acquisition process, namely the provision of Compensation Money (UGK) to the community, continues with the direct payment method through LMAN by the Ministry of Work, "said Executive Vice President (EVP), Corporate Secretary of Hutama Karya, Muhammad Fauzan in a press release, Friday ( 22/1).

He added that the significant progress in constructing the Pekanbaru - Bangkinang toll road was supported by the contractor's commitment, namely PT Hutama Karya Infrastruktur (HKI), to keep speeding up jobs.

President Director of HKI, Aji Prasetyanti said, the Pekanbaru - Bangkinang toll road construction has challenges related to weather factors.

"The high intensity of rainfall has made the project team have to do several jobs to deal with wet soil, such as making subdraints, installing pumps around the worksite, and soil improvement works. However, we are trying to ensure that this project can be completed on time with the required quality," explained Aji.

Pekanbaru - Bangkinang toll road is designed to have 6 bridges and 2 rest areas. The toll road, which has a main road of 40 km with a planned speed of 80 km/hour, will help connect the land route from Pekanbaru to Bangkinang with a faster travel time.

The current travel time from Pekanbaru - Bangkinang, which is about 58.8 km, via the national road is about 1 hour 40 minutes.