GEORGE TOWN: It is not true that the Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah Bridge (JSAHMS) has failed to meet its goal of easing congestion on the first Penang Bridge.
Jambatan Kedua Sdn Bhd (JKSB), the operator of the second bridge, told NSTP that it was not the case that less users were using the second bridge.
Rather, JKSB’s Corporate Communication head Azizi Azizan, said the traffic growth on both bridges have been quite high annually.
“The JSAHMS was meant to reduce traffic on the first bridge by 20 per cent to 25 per cent. However, both bridges have been experiencing increase in traffic volume annually.
“The JSAHMS experienced significant increase in its traffic volume at 3.48 per cent in 2015, 27.72 per cent (2016) and 28.54 per cent (2017).
“As such, it is not the case that less users are using the JSAHMS, but the traffic growth on both bridges are quite high annually,” he said when asked to comment on the finding of the first series of the Auditor General’s Report 2017, which was released on Monday.
Azizi said as the Auditor General rightly pointed out, traffic volume have increased significantly on both bridges.
“Also, the majority of the traffic going into the island and George Town are from the northern mainland.
“It would be irrational for these traffic to travel to the JSAHMS to cross into the Island and to George Town,” he added.
According to the report, the JSAHMS, built in 2014 to ease traffic congestion on the first Penang Bridge, has yet to fully meet its objective.
The report attributed the situation to the location of the first bridge, which is near Seberang Prai Utara dan Seberang Prai Tengah, with a high population concentration of 369,340 in 2016, as well as near major towns such as Prai, Butterworth and Bukit Mertajam.
The report also noted that the JSAHMS had 105 severe defects that were not fixed for hundreds of days, that stretched from over seven months to nearly one-and-a-half-years.
The bridge defects, which were identified in 2016, included cracks, spalling, surface defects, loose connection and abnormal deformation.
Azizi told the NSTP that those were not structural defects.
“The 105 defects listed are elemental in nature (down pipe, drainage or road furniture and others) and not structural.
“The structural integrity of the bridge is not compromised,” he stressed, noting that from the 105 listed defects, 84 defects had been rectified and work orders had been issued for the rectification works of the balance defects.
“Currently, JKSB is working with its appointed contractor to conduct a structural health monitoring and integrated asset management system to detect any defects and to recommend the appropriate rectification processes to be done,” he affirmed.
Speaking at the sideline of the state assembly sitting this afternoon, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow revealed that the original second bridge alignment was to connect Gurney Drive on the island to Bagan Ajam in Seberang Prai Utara.
He however said the second link alignment was later moved to the southern side of the island for “political reasons.”
“The current location of the second bridge explained why it had failed to reduce traffic congestion on the first bridge.
“There is also no proper connectivity to the second bridge. To go to the second bridge now, one has to use the same road heading towards the first bridge,” he said.
He added that to be able to divert traffic from the first bridge to the second bridge, the proposed Pan Island Link 1 (PIL 1) and Pan Island Link 2 (PIL 2) highway projects would be the solution.
He said the proposed Penang South Reclamation, which will see the creation of three man-made islands, would provide more traffic to the second bridge.
PIL 1 and PIL 2 are proposed highway projects under the Penang Transport Master Plan to connect the northern side of the island to the southern side of the island.