Getting Around Bali: What's Actually Changing With the New Roads and LRT
Real construction is underway — here's what it means for a trip today versus a few years from now
Bali's traffic has been a genuine, growing problem for years — the road network simply hasn't kept pace with tourist and resident numbers. 2026 brought the first real infrastructure response, not just another announcement. Here's what's actually happening, and what it means depending on when you're reading this.
The LRT: real construction, years away from opening
Tunnel boring is underway on Phase 1 (Airport–Kuta–Canggu) as of April 2026, built 30 meters underground to respect Balinese cultural regulations around building height and land use. It's targeted for completion by 2028, with Sanur and Ubud connections following by around 2031. If you're visiting before then, this doesn't help you yet — but it's worth knowing it's genuinely happening, not just talked about.
Toll roads: mixed progress
A 96.84km toll road connecting west Bali to the central south went through a re-tender process in 2026 after 2025 delays — still in progress, not open. The Gilimanuk–Mengwi toll road, linking the western ferry terminal to the airport-connected Mengwi area, is being pushed forward on a similar timeline. Neither is a near-term fix.
Uluwatu's underpasses and bypasses: the one thing actually helping now
This is the most immediately relevant change for most travelers: new underpasses and bypasses in the Bukit peninsula, alongside a new traffic engineering system being finalized for Pecatu (Uluwatu), are already easing some of the area's worst bottlenecks. If Uluwatu felt like a traffic nightmare on a previous trip, it's worth checking current conditions rather than assuming nothing's changed.
The practical takeaway
For a trip in the next year or two: budget the same generous traffic buffers you always would, especially around Ubud, Seminyak and Canggu. For Uluwatu specifically, conditions may already be somewhat better than reputation suggests. The bigger structural fixes (LRT, toll roads) are real but not fast — they're a multi-year story, not a this-trip one.