By THO XIN YI | Mar 4, 2010
Traffic snarl at Sunway toll may ease soon
thoxinyi@thestar.com.my
THE dreaded gridlock after the Petaling Jaya Selatan toll (or popularly known as Sunway toll) on the Damansara-Puchong Expressway (LDP) during peak hours may soon be eased.
Litrak, the concessionaire of the Damansara-Puchong Expressway (LDP), announced yesterday that the scheme would provide an extra lane for highway users heading towards Puchong Perdana and Putrajaya (southbound).
They would be using a lane meant for opposing traffic heading from Puchong towards Bandar Sunway.
To use this dedicated contra-flow lane, motorists have to be at the extreme right lane of the toll plaza and pay the toll fee at the staggered toll booths, before entering the contra-flow lane at KM19.3.
The length of this dedicated lane is 2.7km and the exit is at KM19.3 (in front of Esso petrol station, next to IOI Business Park), where the motorists have to rejoin the southbound traffic.
To accommodate this contra-flow scheme, the northbound bridge at the Puchong Jaya Interchange would be completely closed and motorists heading towards Bandar Sunway would be diverted down to the slip road next to the bridge.
Only one out of the two lanes at this bridge would be utilised in this contra-flow scheme.
Should this scheme create congestion at the northbound traffic, Litrak CEO Sazally Saidi said they would consider opening the other lane for the vehicles heading towards Bandar Sunway.
He added that this contra-flow system was decided upon after months of discussions and has been approved by the Malaysian Highway Authority.
“Due to rapid development in Puchong, the traffic volume has increased tremendously.
“In 1999, we recorded 1,500 vehicles per hour at the Petaling Jaya Selatan toll plaza and last year, the figure increased to 6,000.
“At the Bandar Puchong Jaya stretch of the LDP, the number of vehicles per hour was 2,000 in 1999 and it has increased by five folds to reach 10,500 last year,” Sazally said.
He said Litrak has embarked on a RM300mil highway capacity enhancement project and that the company was continously improving its services.
The contra-flow scheme would begin next Monday from 4.30pm to 8.30pm on Mondays to Fridays, except for public holidays.
Signages would be put up in advance to inform motorists and LDP Ronda and traffic police would be on hand to manage the traffic.
“We will be monitoring and improvising on the scheme,” Sazally said.
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