FOURTH LANE FOR CERTAIN STRETCHES OF N-S HIGHWAY

Fourth lane for certain stretches of N-S highway

(GH) TAMPIN 02 September 2012: THE government has approved the addition of a fourth lane to the North-South Espressway from the Shah Alam to Rawang junctions, Bukit Lanjan to Jalan Duta and Nilai Utara to Seremban, in both directions.Works Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor, said the move was taken following increased traffic on the highway.  

"On a normal day, 1.2 million vehicles ply the highway while on weekends it is 1.4 million. This spikes to 1.6 million vehicles during festive seasons."Traffic in the east coast is only 33,000 vehicles on normal days and 175,000 during festive seasons,"

he said at his Aidilfitri open house here yesterday.Shaziman, who is also Tampin member of parliament, said the project consisted of four packages which were the 16.1km Shah Alam junction to Sungai Buloh, Bukit Lanjan to Jalan Duta toll plaza (7km), Sungai Buloh to Rawang junction (13.1km) and Nilai Utara to Seremban (27km).   

He said initial preparations for the construction of the fourth lane from Shah Alam to Rawang and Bukit Lanjan to Jalan Duta were almost complete and land works would start soon.

"Construction costs will be borne by Projek Lebuh Raya Utara-Selatan (PLUS) and it is expected to be ready by early 2015." 

Shaziman said he had also asked PLUS to identify new locations  for additional rest and recreation (R&R) areas to meet the increasing demand of motorists.

"If we don't have more R&R areas, the existing ones will be congested.  I have asked PLUS to identify new R&R areas and at the same time upgrade existing ones in terms of parking space.

There is  a big distance between one R&R to another, so PLUS needs to look into this."

Works Minister Datuk Seri Shaziman Abu Mansor (second from left) and his wife Datin Seri Rozana Mohd Khalid (left) being briefed on the heritage room by greeting guests at the Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house in Tampin yesterday. Bernama pic