26 January, KUALA LUMPUR – The opening of the emergency lanes to traffic at two critical locations on the North-South Expressway by PLUS Malaysia Berhad (PLUS) in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebration on Feb 5, is to ensure smooth traffic during peak hours.
The two locations in Perak involve the seven-kilometre stretch from Simpang Pulai to Gopeng at KM287 to KM295.1 and the seven-kilometre stretch from Slim River to Sungkai at KM 367.6 to KM360.5.
PLUS in a statement today said based on research and records of past festive seasons, traffic congestion had always been severe at both locations.
“Our records show that the journey between Slim River and Sungkai (19 km) will usually take about 45 minutes during the festive seasons due to traffic congestion.
PLUS hopes that with the opening of the emergency lanes at both locations, road users will be able to enjoy a comfortable ride during this festive season,” the statement said.
According to PLUS the opening of the emergency lanes was made possible with the approval of the police and the use of the emergency lanes could be stopped anytime should there be safety issues.
According to PLUS, this experimental move was taken to help assess traffic management effectiveness without ignoring the safety of highway users.
“PLUS expects 1.9 million vehicles will be plying the North South Expressway every day during the festive period as compared to 1.45 million on regular days, which is a 24 per cent increase,” it said.
– BERNAMA