Cabinet committee on traffic announces action plan to ease Klang Valley congestion
PUTRAJAYA, May 2 — Roads closed for prolonged periods due to construction could be reopened as part of a larger plan to reduce traffic congestion choking the Klang Valley, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
In a press conference after chairing the first Cabinet Committee meeting to Address Traffic Congestion today, Ahmad Zahid said the move was among short-term solutions proposed today.
“The first step we feel needs addressing is to identify the roads that have been closed for construction or road works, and reopen them. Some of them have been closed for years,” the DPM said at Perdana Putra.
“We’ve asked the local authorities in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya and Shah Alam to give their input to the technical committee of this task force because they will be big contributors to our efforts to reduce traffic on the roads.
“Once we can reopen some of these roads we can start finding new routes or reroute existing traffic in a manner that will ease congestion during peak hours.”
Transport Minister Anthony Loke, who was also present at the press conference, said that once the local governments have confirmed the roads involved and proposed alternative routes, these would be presented and decided upon at the next meeting of the Cabinet committee.
Loke said the committee should receive the information in two weeks’ time, after which it could decide which roads could be quickly returned to service.
“Road works that have started must speed up their work because some have been taking too long; if so, they need to reapply for permits.
“As for rerouting traffic, the police have also suggested for example Jalan Sultan Ismail from Concorde Hotel to Sungai Wang Plaza, cars have to go through Pavilion but by right they can go straight to Sungai Wang Plaza.
“Thus, we’ve asked DBKL if got negative effects for this and if none we will implement it in two weeks. Apart from that we are looking at more contra-flow traffic. We want to open more contra-flow. The Cabinet committee have given the mandate for me to chair this technical committee,” he added.
Loke also said other measures to be taken include encouraging the use of public transport through promotional campaigns.
The minister said public transport use remained low in Malaysia, but steps such as adding new lines and improving connectivity were in the works to address this.
These would be done without additional government spending, Ahmad Zahid said.
Traffic congestion in the Klang Valley has worsened due to the growth in vehicle numbers, exacerbated by a lack of maintenance as well as disruptions caused by construction and other activities.
Adding to the problem has been unusual weather phenomenon due to climate change, such as increased flooding in recent years.
In March, the government announced the formation of the Cabinet committee to quickly ease traffic congestion in the Klang Valley.
