The traffic situation is crazy in Klang. Since last August when roadworks were started at Persiaran Sultan Ibrahim near the old Chi Liung Plaza (which is newly refurbished and tenanted by Income Tax and CIMB), it has been utter mayhem.
I live in South Klang and my kids go to school in the north. Usually I take the Connaught Bridge route which will take me about 20 – 25 minutes. Nowadays the traffic volume along this route has increased because motorists flock here to avoid the congestion at Jambatan Kota.
I try to stay away from the Banting Road whenever possible but when I have to send no. 1 to college at Klang Parade, this is the more convenient route to use. During peak hours in the morning, the jam starts from Southern Park and it takes 20-30 minutes to inch across the bridge. It’s so maddening you’d want to drive into the Klang River in a fit of frustration. On days when no. 1′s class starts at 9.00 a.m, we have to leave the house just after eight in order to get to college on time. However, this past week a strange phenomenon occurred. The traffic flow was smooth at eight something in the morning!! There was no jam at Jambatan Kota!! Cue Twilight Zone music. How could that be? I’m guessing that motorists are so fed up they’ve used alternative routes such as the Connaught Bridge and the Kesas Highway for those heading towards Shah Alam and beyond.
But I’m not optimistic that the smooth traffic flow will last. One thing certain about traffic along Jambatan Kota is its unpredictability. Just the other day, we took this route at eleven-something in the morning. We thought we’d be able to cruise along but we were in for a nasty surprise. It took us an hour to get from home to Klang Parade! It’s enough to make us want to drive off the bridge into the Klang River. Fortunately Klang residents are a patient bunch; otherwise Klang River would’ve turned into a mass watery grave of frustrated motorists.
Our patience is growing thin though. The roadworks are scheduled to be completed December 2009 but before we could enjoy breezing through the bridge, I fear another traffic problem will arise. A new block of office buildings – Prima Klang Avenue (PKA) situated across the road from MPK and Dewan Hamzah is set to open its doors end 2008. As it is traffic is already congested both ways across the bridge. PKA ‘s location being a mere kilometre away from the bridge is going to exacerbate the nightmarish traffic. Motorists may as well drive off the bridge into the Klang River when this happens.
Klang River will truly become the dirtiest river in Malaysia then, not just because of the pollution but due to the number of dead motorists floating in it. Macabre imagination? Blame it on the traffic woes – it’s causing my brain to become haywire.
Postscript
To answer a query by Ilene as to what’s actually going on in Klang :
1. According to Star Metro on 4/8/08, the construction is to build a flyover to connect Jambatan Kota from the existing flyover above Persiaran Sultan Ibrahim.
2. As for the third bridge, I’d like to know what’s going on. I remember reading newspaper reports that the third bridge has been approved and if I’m not mistaken, it’s supposed to be located somewhere near Jln Tepi Sungai. Initially I assumed that the current roadworks at Persiaran Sultan Ibrahim is to build the third bridge but it ain’t so. (How could the new bridge be located so close to the existing one, right?) The third bridge was ‘approved’ under the BN government when Dr. Khir Toyo was Selangor MB. Now that the Opposition is running Selangor, does that mean that the third bridge has been scrapped? We need more than two bridges at the rate Klang is developing! Five is a nice number, but let’s not be too greedy. A third one would be nice, thank you.
More traffic trouble is looming, and strangely it’s all centred near the Klang River. A new mosque has been built near the Goldcourse Hotel. It’s a beauty to behold but come Friday afternoons, I’ll run ten miles before I’d venture anywhere close to that area.
I concur with you Lydia. It took me .45 mins just to cross over from Eng Ann and because of this I think many have resorted to the Kesas H’way, me included. But now the queue from the Kesas H’way up onto the ramp towards Bandar Botanic/Banting stretches for a distance too.
Then some more to make matters worse, why on earth did the town council approved the building of PKA? grrrgh……not forgetting that part of the road consists of only 2 lanes! I do hope they would consider the entrance and exit points via the other side of the road instead of this side. You know what I mean?
Lydia, would you know what exactly the construction near the old bridge is all about? Some say they’re widening the roads. Some say doing a flyover. Some say it’s the third bridge. Now I say, pusing kepala!
They are taking far too long!!
Ilene, the map at the PKA website shows that entry/exits are on both sides – i.e. along the road coming from Jambatan Kota and the road at the back.
http://www.primaklangavenue.com/main.html
Yeah, two years is a long time but they say ‘be patient’. They should hire more workers to expedite things.
Don’t know why but the name ‘Jalan Tepi Sungai’ cracked me up, Lydia. Maybe because it’s so literal.
I salute MPK town planning dept.which plans absolutely nothing! Klang is chaotic now and the construction of the fly over I notice is only done during day time? Why can’t they speed it up at midnight just like any condominiums? no penalty to purchaser means no rush? furthermore, there is no housing nearby to put a stop for midnight work, eh? And as I passed by there, I see more supervisers than workers.
haha
I so feel you. Last month when I was back in Malaysia for the winter break (currently in aussie), and since i’m the only one staying at the MPK side of klang, it’s always me getting stuck in the jam to get over to my fren’s place. argh! and i asked my parents, how long wil it take for the bridge to be ready, they said, end of the year prolly. or maybe end of next year knowing the msian govt. so frustrating can die!
argus, haha, I’ve never thought of it that way. I suppose the road is so named cos it’s by the river side but it does sound as if we are to Walk At The Side of the River.
blinka-li, they say working at night is not safe wor. There are very few workers and sometimes hardly a soul is in sight. They prob need more machines?!
michy, you only have to bear with it when you’re home for the hols. We have to put up with it everyday!!!
Thanks Lydia for the info! Have not been able to catch up with all the news in the papers these days. I must have left out this section! ha!
Aiyoh, flyover! ! Help! After you ‘fly’ then we’re going to merge onto that 2 lanes that continues from the bridge and where that PKA building has come up! The other day, I took a drive towards the PKA building and found that the building is pretty wide which means traffic is going to be heavy going in and around that area! Gosh! What a planning!
Ilene, you have a lot on your hands what with your mum’s condition and your daughter going off for studies! If I’m in a hurry, I only read the main papers – and that too the headlines and the first para or so.
Superb town planning huh?
Yes! Malaysia boleh? Klang boleh juga! hahahaha!
If only there’s a river for me to drive into in the morning…sigh. Oh, wait. There’s Kampung SUNGAI Kayu Ara, isn’t there? But won’t drown there lah….
sigh….
but i get you, Lydia. I get you…..
Marsha, whatever you do, don’t move to Klang just for the river, ok?
Just read this post. The reason why sometimes at 8am something there isn’t much jams is because most of the motorists comes out at 6.30am. I know because that is the time i go to work and always got stuck with such a heavy volume of vehicles in the wee hours. If the jams gonna get worst in few months time, i think most of us will have to start our journey at 5.30am. sigh….
Shirley, I know traffic is just as bad at 6 something. My husband and kids have to leave the house at about 6.35 in order to get to school on time. The last two weeks, traffic has been bad at 8 something. It took us one hour to get no. 1 to college for a journey that should normally take 25minutes or so.