Nusa Dua-Benoa-Ngurah Rai Road OPEN at last!!

Bali’s brand new Rp2.48trillion (US$220 million) freeway between Nusa Dua and Sanur is now OPEN.

The 12.7km toll road has been opened in readiness for the run-up to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting on the island next month.

It’s been a long wait for the controversial tollway to be up and functional. Officials are convinced that the new Nusa Dua-Benoa-Ngurah Rai road toll will reduce traffic congestion in Bali by reducing the current travelling time between Sanur and Nusa Dua from 1 hour to just 6 minutes.

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. Motorcycles have a separate lane.

The toll road runs over water, parts of it through an area of previously pristine mangrove forest.

A bonus for those currently driving on the island is that for the next week it will be FREE. From October 1 a toll will be charged.