Heavy traffic for the holidays

PETALING JAYA: The holiday travel rush has started to build up ahead of the year-end ‘balik kampung’ for Christmas and New Year celebrations with scores of travellers getting caught in heavy traffic heading out of the city, especially towards the south.

There was heavy traffic identified in several areas due to the high volume of vehicles including at Batu 9, Cheras in Selangor to Pusat Bandar, Kuala Lumpur, as well as at the Sungai Besi toll plaza in Kuala Lumpur heading towards Pusat Bandar, Kuala Lumpur as of 5pm on Friday, according to the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) @llmtrafik.

Traffic was also slow at the Dengkil R&R in Selangor to Putrajaya, Bandar Saujana Putra in Selangor to Seafield in Selangor, as well as the Senawang Utara (RnR) stop in Negri Sembilan heading towards the Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan turn-off.

The LLM also pointed out that there was heavy traffic from Senai and Kulai in Johor around the same time. There was a temporary traffic congestion at KM145 heading towards the south from Juru to Bukit Tambun (S) in Penang.

Heavy traffic was also recorded from Temerloh to Lanchang in Pahang as well as the roads towards Kuala Lumpur following the additional contra lanes created for flood mitigation purposes.

The traffic flow was high at Batu 12 in Batu Caves, Selangor, towards the Gombak Toll Plaza in Selangor, heading towards Kuala Lumpur.

On Thursday, the government announced that highway users will be exempted from paying tolls on highways nationwide on Dec 23 and 26 in conjunction with Christmas celebrations.

Deputy Works Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said that the dates were chosen to avoid traffic concentration leading to congestion and to optimise logistics.

In a separate statement, PLUS Malaysia Bhd (PLUS) will activate SmartLane routes at several critical locations to help alleviate the expected increase in traffic of up to two million vehicles per day during the school holiday season and the Christmas and New Year holiday season.

Subject to current traffic conditions, PLUS announced that SmartLanes will be activated on the route between the Senai Utara Interchange to the Kulai Interchange (KM19.0 to KM27.0 – Northbound) in Johor starting yesterday until Jan 1, 2024, from 8am to 6pm.

The other route involved is from the Port Dickson Interchange to the Seremban Interchange (KM260.0 to KM263.1 – Northbound) in Negri Sembilan starting today until Dec 25 and from Dec 29 to Jan 1, 2024, between 9am and 10pm.

“PLUS is also prepared to activate the SmartLanes on the Gua Tempurung-Gopeng route (KM306.7 to KM297.0 – Northbound), Slim River-Sungkai route (KM366.8 to KM354.0 – Northbound) in Perak.

“…and also from the Rest and Recreation Area (R&R) Rawang-Sungai Buaya Interchange (KM439.5 to KM435.5 – Northbound) in Selangor,” a statement from PLUS said.

PLUS also advised the public to plan and choose travel times accordingly through the My-TTA digital schedule on the PLUS app, especially for those intending to travel between Dec 22 and Jan 1, 2024.

It will also take measures such as increasing the number of PLUSRonda teams and temporarily suspending road maintenance works.

PLUS also advised all highway users to ensure their vehicles are in good condition and road users be physically and mentally prepared for long journeys as well as to exercise caution, especially during the rainy season.

Meanwhile, the police have announced that they will station traffic police personnel at hotspots that have been identified as accident-prone areas as well as to control traffic flow in areas where traffic congestion is expected on all major highways throughout the country in view of the Christmas and New Year holidays ‘balik kampung’ exodus.

Bukit Aman Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department (JSPT) director Datuk Mohd Azman Ahmad Sapri, in a statement issued yesterday, said the initiative was a proactive measure by the department to ensure smooth traffic flow during the festive season and year end holidays.

“Based on reports from highway concessionaires, about two million vehicles are expected to use the highways from today to Tuesday,” he said.

He added that JSPT will continue to collaborate with highway concessionaires to ease traffic congestion along major highways by dispersing traffic, especially when there are accidents.