‘NO CONGESTION WITH PARTIAL WCE OPENING’
Opening Section 8 before Aidilfitri will see traffic dispersed evenly between old and new roads
THE Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA) has allayed fears that the opening of the Hutan Melintang-Teluk Intan stretch of the West Coast Expressway (WCE) ahead of Hari Raya Aidilfitri will cause traffic congestion.
Its director-general, Datuk Seri Aziz Abdullah, said the opening
of Section 8 of the WCE, which spans 19.1km between Hutan Melintang and Teluk Intan, would see traffic dispersed evenly on the new expressway as well as the old trunk road.
“The WCE network is built parallel to the Federal Road 5 trunk road. Motorists heading for Hutan Melintang or Teluk Intan can choose between using the new highway or the trunk road.
“Previously, they would have had only one option, but now they have two.
“Traffic should be spread out better,” he told the New Straits Times.
Despite the opening of the stretch, motorists may still need to rely on the North-South Expressway (NSE) and other highways or roads to get to the interior of Perak.
“Motorists from the south will have to use either the NSE and exit at Bidor or Tapah, or use the Latar (Kuala LumpurKuala Selangor) highway before using WCE to get to Hutan Melintang or Teluk Intan.
“Even if they are coming from Alor Star, 90 per cent of their journey will be on trunk roads.
“It does not make sense for motorists to want to crowd Section 8 of the WCE just to shave off 19.1km from their journey.”
Aziz said using a 19.1km-long portion of a new highway would not make a big difference when calculating the overall journey.
“19.1km of a 400km journey from the south or north is less than five per cent of the overall journey. That’s why I disagree with an opinion that Section 8 of the WCE will be congested.
“Even if there was traffic, it would likely involve local motorists in Hutan Melintang and Teluk Intan.”
On Tuesday, the Perak government expressed concern that opening only a portion of the WCE for Aidilfitri may lead to problems caused by an influx of vehicles.
Public Utilities, Infrastructure, Agriculture and Plantation Committee chairman Abdul Yunus Jamhari said he was worried about congestion, and said that those making announcements on the opening of the highway’s stretches should be more careful instead of jumping the gun.
The WCE concessionaire had announced that Section 8 of the highway was 97 per cent complete and was the only one out of three packages of WCE in Perak that could be opened before Aidilfitri.
Aziz said MHA was dispatching staff to monitor the WCE stretch during the holidays, and would impose a traffic management plan and travel advisory on all highways, including WCE.
The public can call the MHA traffic management centre at 1800-88-77-52 for assistance.