Holiday exodus sees congestion at hot spots in Malaysia

PETALING JAYA – Heavy traffic, coupled with traffic accidents, marked the start of the holiday exodus from Klang Valley in Malaysia.

On its official Facebook page, the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) said congestion had been reported at the Genting Sempah Toll Plaza along the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Expressway.

Slow traffic was also reported on the North-South Expressway on Feb 14, from Rawang to Bukit Beruntung and Skudai to Kulai.

A series of accidents caused slow traffic, with Plus Malaysia’s (PLUS) page on social media platform X reporting accidents at the KM259.6 location marker from Port Dickson to Senawang, at KM300.3 from Tapah to Gopeng and at KM429.4 from Sungai Buaya to Bukit Beruntung.

In the afternoon, it added that traffic accidents were also reported along the KM280.7 marker from Bandar Ainsdale to Nilai and KM161.6 from Jawi to Bandar Cassia.

Over in Johor, police said at least 30 per cent more vehicles were expected to enter the state this Chinese New Year.

Johor police chief Ab Rahaman Arsad said the police will focus on ensuring smooth traffic flow at Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (in Johor Bahru) and Kompleks Sultan Abu Bakar (at Second Link) throughout the festive season.

“We believe these two main entry points will experience extraordinary congestion due to the continuous long holidays throughout the Chinese New Year period.

“We expect to see an increase of between 30 per cent and 40 per cent in the number of vehicles entering Johor this festive season compared with normal days, including those from Singapore.

“We have also identified 47 hot spot locations that frequently experience traffic congestion, as well as 38 black spots where accidents occur regularly,” he said at a press conference after launching Ops Selamat 25 in conjunction with Chinese New Year at Sutera Mall in Johor Bahru on Feb 14.

Commissioner Ab Rahaman said about 1,800 policemen, including 214 officers, will be involved in the operation, conducted between Feb 15 and 20.

“Apart from ensuring smooth traffic flow, we also aim to reduce accidents by at least 5 per cent throughout Ops Selamat this time compared with previous operations.

“We will focus on preventing accidents involving motorcyclists, as they were the main contributors to fatal accidents in previous operations,” he said.

He added that 1,169 accidents, including five fatal cases involving eight deaths, were reported during the previous Ops Selamat.

Datuk Ab Rahaman also urged those who were leaving their homes during Chinese New Year to inform the nearest police station.

Previously, LLM said it projected around 3.27 million vehicles on the roads during the Chinese New Year festive period.

It added that of the total, around 2.2 million vehicles were expected to be on the PLUS network during the same period. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK