KUALA LUMPUR: Over 2.5 million vehicles are expected to flood major highways in conjunction with the Hari Raya Aidiladha holidays, which fall on Monday.
The Malaysian Highway Authority(MHA), in a statement today, said the increase in the number of vehicles that began in stages yesterday will last until Tuesday.
During the holiday period, the MHA said the average traffic on highways operated by PLUS Malaysia Bhd is expected to reach up to 2.2 million vehicles, followed by 181,000 vehicles on the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Expressway; and 80,000 vehicles and 60,000 vehicles on Phase 1 and 2 of the East Coast Highway, respectively.
MHA said motorists can check the current status of the highways through its official social media channels such as the official Facebook page of the Malaysian Highway Authority, the X application @llmtrafik, and TikTok @llmtrafik.
These measures, the statement said, included instructing all highway concessionaires to temporarily halt construction and maintenance works involving lane closures, except for emergency cases, from June 12 to June 19.
The MHA and highway concessionaires have also activated 20 'smart lane' routes at several locations along the PLUS North-South Highway from Friday until Tuesday, as well as 'tidal flow' routes on the KL-Karak Highway on June 18.
"All concessionaires have also been instructed to ensure that the toll collection system functions properly to prevent congestion at toll plazas, in addition to adding toll lanes at several identified toll plazas with high traffic," the statement said.
The MHA said motorists can check the current status or any incidents as well as highway traffic through their official social media channels and the highway concessionaires, such as the official Facebook page of the Malaysian Highway Authority, the X application @llmtrafik, and TikTok @llmtrafik.
The public, the statement added, can also contact the Traffic Management Centre hotline at 1-800-88-7752.
"They can also get information on the current traffic conditions through closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras on all highways. Users can visit our website at http://www.llm.gov.my."
Meanwhile, checks by Harian Metro showed that traffic was slow on several major highways this morning as people started returning to their hometowns.
According to the latest report from MHA's official social media account, traffic on the KL-Karak Highway heading towards the East Coast states from the city, is building up due to an increase in the number of vehicles.
Traffic is moving slowly from the Gombak toll plaza to Bukit Tinggi. Traffic is also slow towards Lentang and Bentong. Additionally, traffic is reported to be slow northbound, at Sungai Buloh, and from Tapah to Gopeng.