Tanjung Bungah – Teluk Bahang Paired Road
The proposed paired road from Tanjung Bungah to Teluk Bahang will reduce the travelling time between the two places by more than half, said project director Mazlan Ali.
He said it now took about 20 minutes to drive on the 10.9km existing stretch from Tanjung Bungah (where Jalan Lembah Per-mai meets Jalan Tanjung Bungah) to Teluk Bahang.
However, the journey will take just nine minutes on the highway which will be 10.6km long.
Mazlan said this during a public briefing on the highway which is one of the three paired roads proposed to be built under an infrastructure package which includes the proposed undersea tunnel linking Penang island to the mainland.
Consortium Zenith BUCG Sdn Bhd is the main project contractor.
About 100 people turned up for the briefing at the Tanjung Bungah community hall on Saturday.
It was reported earlier that the road is to run along the foothills starting about 200m from the Teluk Bahang roundabout and ending in Lembah Permai near the Sri Vazhikattum Muniswarar shrine.
It will have three interchanges at Jalan Sungai Emas and Persiaran Sungai Permai and near the Chin Farm Waterfall.
Various environmental concerns were raised at the briefing, including by city councillor Dr Lim Mah Hui who said the billions of ringgit to be spent on road projects would be better channelled towards improving public transport.
Joleen Yap, 26, a zoology student from Universiti Sains Malaysia, said she was concerned that the project would threaten the existence of the Dusky Leaf Monkeys found in the jungles along the Tanjung Bungah-Teluk Bahang corridor.
Katharine Chua, a director of Tropical Spice Garden, called for the Environmental Impact Assess-ment report to be made public to ensure that the ecotourism belt remains sustainable.
Consortium Zenith executive vice-chairman Datuk Lee Chee Hoe said the paired road project was important as an alternative road.
“The existing road is already very congested along Batu Ferringhi,” he said.
State Public Works, Utilities and Transportation Committee chairman Lim Hock Seng said the project was expected to commence in mid-2018 and scheduled to be completed in three years.
READ MORE: TheStar.com.my
What will be the toll rate?
The so-called “concerns” posted by some nerdy participants there are sheer nonsense!
Could it be any slower than this! This has been talked n talked since 2013, n now it says it will start 2018. Just another tactic to secure voters vote.
@Wtf
Then all we Penangites now should (again?) start a campaign wide and far to get rid of that Talk-only party from Penang!!!
NO money to start bulding the roads la. The china fellas pulled out from the tunnel deal d. Our local partners have no money . So now still looking for money
The current road’s capacity is a joke in relation to the traffic that it carries. There’s lots of traffic. Large tractor trailer lorries, large Rapid Penang and tourist buses, and now double deckers are simply incapable of negotiating the corners on that 19th century road without cutting way into the oncoming lane on blind corners.
Purely from a safety perspective, this road needs to replaced with a modern one. Either that, or there should be an immediate freeze on all construction west of the floating mosque. Traffic is only going to get worse when the new projects in Batu and Teluk Bahang start gaining occupants.
Why not admit the obvious, fast track the new modern road (of course with proper Environmental Impact Statements and responsible environmental design) and turn the old road into a dedicated bicycle and jogging track. It would be a huge boost to Penang’s healthy, green image, and would boost property values for everything near the old road. If parts of the new road are elevated (which is almost certainly going to be the case due to the terrain), there will be places where the treasured black leaf monkeys will still be able to migrate.
The current logjam is ludicrous.
I am a nature lover, which is why I have chosen to live in Teluk Bahang for 7 years.
@Dave Ray
Good post Dave,
However, there is one nerd even suggested it’s better to travel by boat to Teluk Bahang as now!
Just what’s wrong with some of those over-zealous nerds?
@Dave Ray
One joker in the Penang tunnel road projects article has even suggested that everyone who is unhappy and disgruntled about the traffic situation move away ! I wish i could tag him to your comment.
@Wtf
Everything is slow now is because we have a lot of objections by Penang Forum
@Jibril
As stated it will be tol free