User:Nyanardsan/sandbox/Roads in Indonesia

Roads in Indonesia are an important part of transport in Indonesia. Indonesia has a network of 546,725 kilometers of roads in all of its 38 provinces as of 2022 according to Statistics Indonesia that are consisted of national roads, provincial roads, and regency/city roads, excluding toll roads and village roads. Majority of these roads are regency/city roads managed by regency or city governments. Meanwhile, the total operational toll roads in Indonesia as of January 2024 was 281,6 kilometers spread over islands of Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Bali. Indonesian roads that are not toll roads are divided into sveral categories according to who is responsible in maintaning the road, from national roads managed by the central government, provincial roads managed by province government, regency/city roads managed by regency/city governments, and lastly village roads managed by village governments. Toll roads are also managed and owned by central government as they are considered part of national roads system according to Law Number 38 of 2004 Regarding Roads. The national roads are maintaned by central government through National Road Implementation Agency (Balai Pelaksanaan Jalan Nasional) or BPJN, which has separate branch organizations on each province managing and maintaning national roads in that particular province.

There has been major efforts to modernize and revamped Indonesian road systems with additions of new toll roads and improvement of national, provincial, regency/city, and even village roads, particularly in the aftermath of Reformasi era during tenures of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Joko Widodo. Between 2005 and 2022, the length of national roads in Indonesia increased by 9,221 kilometers. Within two decades since Reformasi era, the length of roads in Indonesia has increased by more than 50%. In several parts of Indonesia, improvement and availability of road transport is displacing traditional means of transportations such as by waterways and boats in Kalimantan.

Regulation
Regulation regarding road and its management in Indonesia is based on Law Number 28 of 2004 Regarding Roads, replacing previous Law Number 13 of 1980 which was regarded as outdated and in need of an update especially in the aftermath of decentralization. This law was then revised twice, first by Law Number 11 of 2020 and then by Law Number 2 of 2022.

Early history
Various kind of road systems have been present in the Indonesian archipelago under several native sultanates and kingdoms. However, the prominence of land travel was not significant due to importance of maritime trading in the region and the archipelagic nature of the region. There are exceptions such as inland and coastal road systems under Mataram Sultanate where some of its sections would be later become foundation of Great Post Road in the later colonial era. Most of roads from precolonial era consist mostly of only dirt trails or cleared land sections where carriages and animals can move through. In most kingdoms and regions around the archipelago, especially Kalimantan and Sumatra, inland waterways and rivers took the lead as main transportation means and houses were built along the banks of the rivers instead. This resulted in lack of road infrastructure well into the late colonial era and in some area persisted as far as the history of modern Indonesia after independence.

Colonial era
As parts of the archipelago were incorporated into Dutch East Indies, roads were constructed inside cities and to connect major ports. Major changes in this era included policy to move indigenous settlements away from rivers and to roadside instead. This, in addition to increased movement of goods through land, was also done for better surveilance of local populations and contain any possible uprisings. Major Indonesian roads were constructed during this period would later become artery or converted into main highways in the modern era.

Early independence
In the aftermath of Indonesian National Revolution and subsequent independence under Sukarno, there was little change with railways and sea travel still dominating as the main means of transport across the achipelago. Most of the roads during this time were constructed under colonial era and were few in between. There are few new road constructions during this era such as new roads connecting Jakarta and around Kebayoran Baru area, Semanggi Interchange built to prepare Jakarta to host 1962 Asian Games , and those built in new cities such as Palangka Raya. Due to various regional conflicts and warlordism across the country compounded with social, political, and economical turmoils, road constructions were hampered especially outside of major cities. Other than civilian construction of roads, during this time there were several roads constructed for military purpose such as those in West Java to be used against Darul Islam rebellion. These military roads were constructed usually deep within jungles and mountains of the province and were largely forgotten after the insurgency ended.