Section 11 of West Coast Expressway set to open in Q1 2024
Section 11 of the West Coast Expressway (WCE) from Beruas to Taiping (South) is expected to be commissioned by April this year at the latest, said Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) deputy director-general Dr Nadzrol Fadzilah Ahmad.
He said efforts are being made to commission the section before Chinese New Year, but she is confident that it can be operational before Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
“The aim is to help people avoid congestion, but it is still subjective because safety is our priority,” she told a press conference here yesterday.
Earlier, Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad together with state executive councillors took a tour to inspect the construction of the WCE project.
Nadzrol Fadzilah also pointed out that the toll booths would, as usual, be opened for free use for a certain time.
WCE Holdings Bhd chief executive officer Lyndon Alfred Felix said that construction progress had reached 98 per cent by Dec 31 last year.
"We are now entering the inspection, supervision and certification phase by LLM. We have to go through these phases before this section can be opened to all road users," he said.
Meanwhile, Saarani said the WCE project was crucial as it was a strategic route to expand the transport network, not only between cities and districts, but also to connect Perak to economic growth centres – starting with Port Klang, Lumut Port and Penang Port.
“This route is also important because it is a catalyst for Perak's plan to drive socioeconomic growth along the west coast and transform Perak's tourism landscape by facilitating access to strategic destinations, in line with the Visit Perak Year 2024 campaign.
“When it opens later, road users will have alternative routes to the existing roads to areas on the west coast of Perak such as Teluk Intan, Manjung, Pulau Pangkor, Beruas, Trong, Changkat Jering and Taiping," he said.
The project connects Taiping and Banting in Selangor, and has a total length of 233 kilometres.
To date, five of the total 11 sections of WCE expressway routes have been opened to traffic, namely Section 5 (KlangKapar) and Section 6 (KaparAssam Java) in Selangor; and Section 8 (Hutan MelintangTeluk Intan), Section 9 (Kampung Lekir-Changkat Cermin) and Section 10 (Changkat CerminBeruas) in Perak.