New Highway In The Pipeline

The Government is studying a proposal for an alternative highway to the Damansara-Puchong Highway (LDP), which has now reached full traffic capacity.

Works Minister Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed said traffic congestion at certain places along the highway such as the Sunway and the Sg Penchala tolls was “now at a very bad stage.”

“The traffic jam at these two tolls are categorised at Level E, which means it is very bad. The proposal for an alternative highway was submitted by Projek Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan. The proposal is being studied by the Economic Planning Unit,” said Zin.

“This alternative highway will give road users more choices and help to reduce congestion along the LDP. That highway has a traffic capacity of 120,000 cars each day.

“In many places, the current traffic volume is up to the brim,” he told reporters after opening the Sepang Pemuda, Wanita and Puteri Umno meetings in Sepang yesterday.

Zin said he had also directed the Malaysian Highway Authority to study the feasibility of such an alternative highway.
“Opening an alternative highway to the LDP will also benefit the hundreds of thousands of people living in residential areas along the highway.

“At the same time, I would also recommend that the LDP concessionaire put more efforts into enhancing its infrastructure and develop ways to reduce congestion,” he said.

However, Zin declined to state the alignment of the highway, adding that details were still being worked out.

In May, the minister had told Dewan Rakyat that the Government was looking into having peak and off-peak toll rates as one of the three options to solve the congestion problem of LDP.

Zin had said then that having lower toll rates for using the highway during off-peak hours would encourage road users to stagger their journeys and thus, reduce traffic jams.

Subsidies for the LDP have cost the Government RM630.54mil since 1999 €” the year the LDP toll rates were reduced from RM1.50 set in the concessionaire agreement to RM1.

On another matter, Zin said the Cabinet had directed the ministry to ensure that all construction projects under the Public Works Department continued according to schedule despite the current global economic crisis.

“Until today, we have not received any report of abandoned construction. However, I have set up a taskforce to monitor the situation. The department has some RM70bil worth of projects under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, which are capable of spinning more economic development in the country,” he said.

Source: The Star