Semanggi Interchange


Semanggi Interchange is a major road junction in Jakarta, Indonesia which connects Central Jakarta, South Jakarta, East Jakarta and West Jakarta without any traffic lights. Semanggi intersection has the shape of four-leaved cloverleaf. Two main roads of the city Gatot Subroto Road and Sudirman Road intersect at this cloverleaf interchange. This is a landmark and an important arterial road in the Golden Triangle of Jakarta, an area of Jakarta's business district.

History

This interchange was built in 1960s as part of infrastructure development for 1962 Asian Games. It was named after Semanggi by Sukarno. It was originally designed as one long continuous bridge with cloverleaf interchange. This design symbolized the unification of the territory of the city, as well as a symbol of Indonesian national unity. The clover shape was inspired by Irish mythology: the four-leaf clover which is widely considered as a good luck charm. Before the development of Karet area, a swath of swamp full of clovers used to exist around it.
In 2015, then Governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama revealed a plan to build two elevated roads around the Semanggi cloverleaf to reduce traffic congestion in the area. This new bridge stretch allows road users to drive from Ratu Plaza in South Jakarta to Cawang in East Jakarta and from Grogol in West Jakarta to Kebayoran Baru in South Jakarta. The new elevated road is built above the existing Semanggi intersection in front of the well-known Semanggi shopping mall in South Jakarta. The West-South ramp is 769 meters long. The other ramp is approximately 826 meters long with a height of up to 11.5 meters. It was opened to traffic on 28 July 2017.

Taman Semanggi

Taman Semanggi is a park located within the "leafs" of Semanggi cloverleaf interchange. The park has a land area of about 11 hectares. There are various type of tropical as well as ornamental trees in the park.