Open Setiawangsa highway early to ease congestion, says MP

 

Teresa Kok, the MP for Seputeh, said she was told by JKR that the Setiawangsa-Pantai highway would be opened only in mid-November. (EDP pic)

PETALING JAYA: An MP has called for the Setiawangsa-Pantai Expressway in Kuala Lumpur to be opened earlier than scheduled to ease traffic congestion expected with the one-year closure of Jalan Loke Yew beginning tomorrow.

Seputeh MP Teresa Kok said Jalan Loke Yew and Jalan Istana, in the heart of the capital city, were “always congested” every time she visited Kuala Lumpur.

Kok said she had visited the highway and found that it was completed in May. “However, I was told by the public works department (JKR) that it would only be opened in mid-November,” she told reporters.

She said the new highway offers residents in Sungai Besi and in her constituency a faster route to Bukit Bintang and Setiawangsa.

Kok urged works minister Alexander Nanta Linggi to open the highway as soon as possible to reduce potential traffic disruptions.

Sections of Jalan Loke Yew will be closed in stages for a year for construction of a bridge at the Loke Yew roundabout.

The new highway runs 29.8km through eastern Kuala Lumpur, serving areas such as Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Wangsa Maju, Setiawangsa, Ampang and the Tun Razak Exchange. - FMT