THREE days ago, Senior Minister (Works) Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said the Government had approved, in principle, to build three new highways to alleviate traffic congestion in the Klang Valley.
The highways are Petaling Jaya Traffic Dispersal Elevated Highway (PJD LINK), Putrajaya – Bangi Expressway (PBE) and Kuala Lumpur Northern Dispersal Expressway (KL-NODE).
On the PJD LINK, Fadillah said the project is undergoing evaluation process involving representatives from the Selangor state government, related agencies and the communities involved.
“The companies also need to conduct social impact assessment (SIA), environmental impact assessment (EIA) and traffic impact assessment (TIA).
“For the PBE, we are in the last stage of negotiations before drafting a concession agreement with technical appendix attached.
“As for KL-NODE, we have yet to set the alignment in the evaluation process,” Mingguan Malaysia reported him as saying.
However, several netizens were unimpressed with Fadillah’s announcement and called him out for missing the elephant in the room; poor public transportation system!
“Why not improve public transport service and coverage. Galakkan rakyat naik transport with initiatives (encourage the people to use public transport) . But bermula dari pemimpin dan Menteri (Start with ministers) . They called walk the talk,” said user Muhammad.
Echoing his sentiments, user Malek added:
(The minister should be talking about strengthening the public transportation system and encourage people to use them. Unfortunately, no one wants to talk about high fares, poor public transport frequency and constant breakdowns)
Netizen Aebob A Bit Lewd posted a caption featuring a story from the US, where it mentioned how expanding highways and building more roads actually make traffic congestions worse.
Want more cars on KL roads?
It is to note that as of now, Selangor itself has 19 highways which has differing concession periods amongst them.
On that note, user Sekuttawar6 reminded the Government how building highways themselves are causing massive traffic congestion, given that the companies take a long time to complete them.
(New highways to ease congestion? Don’t you know building new highways itself cause traffic jams? You should be thinking on how to expand public transport usage instead of building new highways)
Agreeing to Sekuttawar’s views, user m Anuar pointed out at how incomplete Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) rail lines are causing traffic congestions at certain areas in the Klang Valley.
(Is this the best idea you can think of? Kuala Lumpur dwellers are long affected by roadworks linked to LRT and MRT rail line construction. They are yet to be completed and Fadillah wants to add to the problem. Use your head)
Netizen I Fahmi jested:
(Yes, build more highways and get more people to buy cars. Fill KL roads with more vehicles) – May 24, 2022
Main photo credit: The Star
