The North Coast Road () is a road, that connects Cilegon and Banyuwangi along the northern coast of

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

, particularly between

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

and

Surabaya Surabaya is the capital city of East Java Provinces of Indonesia, province and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern corner of Java island, on the Madura Strai ...

. Most of Java's north coast road was built during the reign of

governor-general Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

Herman Willem Daendels (1808–1811) and was originally known as the

Great Post Road The Great Post Road (, ) is the name for the historical road that runs across Java and connects Anyer with Panarukan. It was built during the administration of Herman Willem Daendels (1808–1811), Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, ...

( ).

History of construction

The Great Post Road was a

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

road which was built under the order of King Lodewijk Napoleon who ruled the Kingdom of Holland at that time. The road was intended to ease military support, e.g. transfer of soldiers, in order to defend

from a possible

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

invasion. It connects Anyer in its western end and Panarukan in the eastern end of Java. After the reign of Daendels, the eastern road was later extended to Banyuwangi. The Java Great Post Road consists of most of the present Java North Coast Road. However, the original post road runs through the Preanger (Priangan,

West Java West Java (, ) is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten and the country's capital region of Jakarta to t ...

) highlands, from Meester Cornelis (Jatinegara) going south to Buitenzorg (

Bogor Bogor City (), or Bogor (, ), is a landlocked city in the West Java, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.

), and going east to

Cianjur Cianjur () is a town and district in the West Java province of Indonesia, and is the regency seat, seat of Cianjur Regency. The district of Cianjur is located along one of the main roads between Jakarta (120 km to the northwest) and Bandung ...

Bandung Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...

, Sumedang, and

Cirebon Cirebon (, formerly rendered Cheribon or Chirebon in English) is a port city on the northern coast of the Indonesian island of Java. It is the only coastal city of West Java, located about 40 km west of the provincial border with Central J ...

. The current north coast road runs through coastal northern West Java which was built later after the construction of Daendels' post road. It connects

Bekasi Bekasi (, ) is the List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city with the largest population in the province of West Java, Indonesia, located on the eastern border of Jakarta. It serves as a commuter town, commuter city within the Jakarta m ...

, Karawang, Pamanukan, and Cirebon. Most of the current national road network in Java was built during the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

era. However, during the

Suharto Suharto (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian Officer (armed forces), military officer and politician, and dictator, who was the second and longest serving president of Indonesia, serving from 1967 to 1998. His 32 years rule, cha ...

era around the 1980s, the

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and ...

network system was introduced within the Java transportation network. The Java toll network highway has been continuously expanded, and today some of these toll roads forms Java north coast road.

Extent

As the Great Post Road, it originally ran from Anyer in the west of Java to Panarukan in the east, but was later extended to Banyuwangi. In its current form the North Coast Road runs through five

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

Banten Banten (, , Pegon alphabet, Pegon: بنتن) is the westernmost Provinces of Indonesia, province on the island of Java, Indonesia. Its capital city is Serang and its largest city is Tangerang. The province borders West Java and the Special Capi ...

DKI Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

Central Java Central Java (, ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogya ...

and

East Java East Java (, , ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost third of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean border its northern ...

. The port of Merak forms the western terminus, connecting with Bakauheni in

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

, the southern end of the Trans-Sumatran Highway. The eastern end is situated at Ketapang with connections to Gilimanuk in

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

. Sections of the North Coast Road are going to be part of the 13,177 km route of the Asian Highway Network route, which links

Denpasar Denpasar (; Balinese script, Balinese: ᬤᬾᬦ᭄ᬧᬲᬃ, ''Dénpasar'') is the capital city of the province of Bali, Indonesia. Denpasar is the largest city in the Lesser Sunda Islands and the second largest city in Eastern Indonesia after ...

, Bali with Khosravi,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, since some of the is still under construction. is a

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

limited to vehicles having at least 4 wheels. The North Coast Road also comprises , which is open to any vehicle.

Cities

The road connects the largest cities in Java, including

, Cilegon, Tangerang,

, Tegal, Pekalongan,

Semarang Semarang (Javanese script, Javanese: , ''Kutha Semarang'') is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Netherlands, Dutch Dutch East Indies, colonial era, and is still an important regio ...

, Rembang, Tuban,

, Pasuruan, Probolinggo and Banyuwangi.

Toll roads

The traffic of North Coast Road is gradually easing by the Trans-Java toll road and its complement toll roads. * Tangerang–Merak Toll Road (

) * Jakarta–Tangerang Toll Road (

) * Jakarta Outer Ring Road (

) * Jakarta–Cikampek Toll Road (

) * Cikopo–Palimanan Toll Road (

) * Palimanan–Kanci Toll Road (

) * Kanci–Pejagan Toll Road (

) * Pejagan–Pemalang Toll Road (

) * Pemalang–Batang Toll Road (

) * Batang–Semarang Toll Road (

) * Semarang Toll Road (

) * Semarang–Solo Toll Road (

) * Solo–Kertosono Toll Road (

) * Kertosono–Mojokerto Toll Road (

) * Surabaya–Mojokerto Toll Road (

) * Surabaya–Gempol Toll Road (

) * Gempol–Pasuruan Toll Road (

) * Pasuruan–Probolinggo Toll Road (

) * Probolinggo–Banyuwangi Toll Road (

)

Volume and hazards

This road is a major route for land transportation, being used by a range of 20,000 to 70,000 vehicles daily. The state of the road varies in condition, which can seriously affect traffic-flow. The North Coast Road is a major artery during the celebration of the ''Lebaran'' holiday, where transit is primarily west to east.

References

{{portal, Indonesia Highways in Indonesia Transport in Java Asian Highway Network Louis Bonaparte