The road from Denpasar to Canggu could be taken underground. A tunnel is planned to start at the western end of Jalan Gatot Subroto Barat and run for 2.4 kilometers of a 3.2-kilometer section of the new road, at a depth of 15 meters.
The project is being developed together with China’s Shanghai Tunnels Engineering (STEC).
Construction is still a long way off. Technical details and the financing scheme are currently being worked out, with calculations expected to be completed in less than a month. Each meter of tunnel is estimated to cost IDR 1.45 billion, putting the entire underground section at around IDR 3.5 trillion (about $200 million).
Access points to the route have already been prepared, no major technical obstacles have been identified, and authorities say they are ready to proceed with land acquisition. STEC has been building tunnels in China since 1965, and discussions with the company have covered not only roads but also underground tram lines and parking facilities in tourist areas.
The tunnel would form part of the Gatot Subroto–Canggu–Mengwi Terminal corridor: 17.7 kilometers of new, 30-meter-wide road. Land acquisition is scheduled for 2026, with construction planned for 2027–2028. As recently as late July, only about 400 meters were expected to go underground to avoid demolishing densely built-up areas and disturbing temples in Batu Culung. The proposed underground section has now increased sixfold. Estimates for the entire corridor have varied: IDR 4.5 trillion in March and IDR 3.2 trillion in late July, with more than IDR 2 trillion of the latter figure allocated to land acquisition.
There are plenty of other transport plans for the same area. In August, Bali’s governor announced that the island would not build a metro system and would instead introduce an autonomous rail transit system, or ART. The project is estimated at IDR 2.2 trillion, with the first line planned from the airport to Canggu and construction scheduled to begin in 2027.
A gubernatorial regulation is being prepared for the project because this type of transport is not currently included in Bali’s spatial development plan. At the same time, authorities are selecting sites for two piers — one at Sekeh Beach near the airport and another near Berawa in Canggu — for a water taxi project valued at IDR 1.21 trillion.
So far, roads are the only projects among these plans that have actually entered construction. On July 27, the first stone was laid for the 10.89-kilometer first section of the Southern Ring Road, as well as the 4.77-kilometer Berawa–Umalas–Kedampang–West Teuku Umar connection. IDR 2.9 trillion has been allocated for the current phase.
For now, the tunnel exists only on paper, while construction of the wider corridor it would form part of is not expected to begin before 2027. The road is being routed along rivers to minimize the impact on agricultural land, while the underground section was added to avoid having to acquire and demolish homes and temples in densely developed areas.
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