Johor Public Works Department to conduct study on traffic congestion

JOHOR BAHRU - The Johor Public Works Department (JKR) will conduct an internal study to resolve the issue of traffic congestion involving five routes around the city.

State Public Works, Transport and Infrastructure Exco, Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh said, the study will begin in the near future and is expected to be completed within a few weeks.

The five roads that have been identified as causing congestion are Stulang Laut Road, Lingkaran Dalam, EDL Highway (Johor Bahru Traffic Dispersal Scheme Highway), Ibrahim Sultan Road, and Bukit Chagar Road.

“Congestion on all these routes occurs during peak hours, especially those (people) who want to go to Singapore apart from weekends and during festive seasons.

“We also found that this congestion is caused by the construction of two mega projects namely RTS (Rapid Transit System) and the Gemas-Johor Bahru electric double track, especially along Jalan Tebrau to Jalan Tun Razak.

“Therefore, we will take follow-up action because this congestion occurs at certain times. Among our initial actions is to deploy police officers at peak times to disperse certain routes," he said at a press conference after surveying the traffic situation at EDL, on Sunday.

Also present were RTS Link Project Director, Ir Zulkifli Mohamed and South Johor Bahru District Police Chief, Assistant Commissioner, Raub Selamat.

JKR has also prepared short-term, medium-term, and long-term plans to solve the problem, but these will be implemented based on the results of the study.

However, Mohd Fazli said, all the plans will be implemented based on the results of the study obtained later.

“According to our research, almost 100,000 road users use this route (five roads) at a time. At peak times it is found to occur from morning to night and at critical times it can reach the morning.

“Anything for TIA (Traffic Impact Assessment), we focus on the five roads involved where according to certain times up to 50 police officers are deployed compared to only eight officers on normal days.

“In addition, Jalan Tun Razak to BSI (Bangunan Sultan Iskandar) via Jalan Storey or Jalan Bukit Chagar, is closed during peak hours, Sundays and public holidays. On normal days, this road is open," he said.