KUALA LUMPUR: The Meru-Menora Tunnel stretch of the nation’s foremost highway, which is notorious for bumper-to-bumper traffic and a hotspot for accidents over the years, could see some respite soon.
PLUS Malaysia Bhd, which operates the North South Expressway, has grappled with the issue for years, and has no plans yet to expand the stretch.
PLUS managing director Datuk Azman Ismail said the new West Coast Expressway (WCE), when completed, would offer the best alternative for road users to avoid the stretch.
Located in Jelapang, Perak, the 800m stretch underneath the Keledang Range was opened in 1986 and comprises two lanes for each direction.
The south-bound stretch of the tunnel is prone to accidents which would cause massive congestion with hours of delay for motorists.
Meanwhile, the 223km-long WCE, which is being built on the west coast of the peninsula, is set to resolve the nightmare congestion faced by motorists on almost every school and public holiday when travelling to the northern states of the peninsula and back.
Azman said with a high traffic volume of 1.9 million vehicles, the northernmost stretch of the WCE was intended for motorists who wish to avoid the Menora Tunnel, the reason why the WCE went all the way to Taiping.
“We understand that during festive holidays or long weekends, traffic volume is very high. Thus, we issue travel advisories so people can time their journeys well and reduce congestion on the highway,” he told the New Straits Times in an interview here yesterday.
Azman said a collaboration between PLUS, Google and Waze was in the pipeline to transform the NSE into a smart highway.
“Sensors will be built along the highway to help us monitor the traffic conditions. The information from these sensors will be updated in real time on the 63 electronic variable message signboards along the NSE.”
PLUS, he added, was engaging stakeholders to make the highways safe for all motorists through its “3E” programme, namely enforcement, education and engineering.
The highway concessionaire conducted integrated operations on the NSE nightly, together with the police, the Road Transport Department (RTD) and the National Anti-Drug Agency, he said.
He said PLUS was also working with the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research and the RTD to produce a short eight-part series on ethical driving on the highway. The campaign is expected to be launched on social media next week.
“Through the engineering aspect, PLUS continuously looks for ways to improve the highway to further ensure safety, especially on accident-prone areas or ‘blackspots’,” he said, adding that more than RM4 billion had been invested to conduct highway upgrades.
Azman also advised road users to download the PLUS mobile app, available on iOS and Android, free of charge.
He said the app would enable road users to view traffic updates through a camera feed and stay updated on congestion caused by any road works or accidents.
Azman assured that the PLUS Ronda (PLUS patrol cars) were on standby every day to assist road users in case of any breakdowns or accidents.