Frustration grows as Raya exodus picks up pace

 

Congestion was reported on major stretches of the North-South Expressway, the East Coast Expressway and on ring roads around Kuala Lumpur. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: The massive traffic jams earlier reported, due to travellers headed back to their hometowns for Aidilfitri, only worsened throughout the day.

Congestion and slow-moving traffic jams were reported on several major highways across the country, with many stretches slowing to multi-kilometre crawls.

Exasperated netizens stuck in traffic took to social media to express their frustration.

One netizen tweeted: “The traffic jam this Raya is horrible, imagine if we had a better public transportation system.”

While another expressed fear to embark on his journey back to Penang after hearing “horror stories” about the traffic.

Another netizen recounted having left Kuala Lumpur at midnight only to arrive in Kota Bharu at 9.30am.

However, others maintained a more joyful outlook with one Twitter user saying: “After two years of being unable to head back for Raya, there is no need to grumble about traffic jams.”

“What is Raya without a little bit of traffic?” another tweeted.

Heavy congestion was reported on major stretches of the northbound and southbound lanes of the North-South Expressway.

Northbound: slow-moving traffic was reported on an 8km stretch from Bukit Tambun to Jawi, 35km from Tapah to Gopeng; 12km from the Menora Tunnel to Sungai Perak; 8km from Kuala Kangsar to Changkat Jering; and 6km from Slim River to Sungkai.

Southbound: there was slow-moving traffic for 9km from Senawang to Pedas Linggi; and 2km from Kulai to Senai. Traffic was also slow moving from Pedas Linggi to Simpang Ampat.

On the East Coast expressway, Astro’s traffic reports warned drivers to expect an 11km jam from Chalok to Permaisuri. Congestion on more than 17km was reported on the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway.

On the Duta-Ulu Kelang Highway in Kuala Lumpur, traffic was heavy after Sentul Pasar, heading to Greenwood and the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway; as well as on the Middle Ring Road 2 heading to the Gombak toll plaza and Genting Sempah; and Bukit Tinggi to Lentang.

Traffic information is available from Plus by phone at 1800-88-0000 and Twitter, or the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) at 1800-887752 or Twitter. - FMT