The Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) has started testing a contraflow from Jalan Gasing flyover to Jalan Kelang Lama on Thursday to ease traffic jam along the aforementioned route and the Jalan Othman intersection during weekday nights.
Effective from 5pm to 7pm every Monday to Friday, the contraflow will apply to cars coming from Jalan Gasing intersection going towards Jalan Templer and Old Klang Road. As such, vehicles will not be allowed to enter from NPE into Jalan Gasing during the period.
At present, the one-way Gasing flyover provides a shortcut for motorists entering Jalan Gasing from NPE, enabling them to avoid the traffic lights at the Jalan Templer, Jalan Othman and Jalan Gasing intersection, which was previously known as the Othman roundabout.
But when the contraflow has started, vehicles from the NPE and Jalan Kelang Lama will not be able to take the flyover route, but must instead pass through the traffic light intersection.
“The jam along Jalan Templer, Jalan Gasing and the NPE is getting worse especially during peak hours and we need to find another solution for this,” said Zainun Zakaria, a public relations officer at MBPJ.
The contraflow trial will run from 1 September to 30 November. Thereafter, MBPJ will determine whether it should be continued or not, she explained, adding that it will help motorists who use the NPE to go to Shah Alam, Subang Jaya, PJS and Maju Jaya.
To make sure the counterflow is strictly followed, the authorities have put up barricades in the flyover, all the way to the NPE exit.
“We will also be engaging help from the police and the NPE concessionaire and will be stationing enforcement officers from MBPJ during the trial period,” noted Zakaria, emphasizing that MBPJ motorists must heed the signage and follow the instruction of the traffic personnel stationed there.
She also shared that this is MBPJ’s second attempt to address the traffic woes at the intersection. Previously, the council transformed the roundabout into a traffic light junction, which slightly improved the traffic flow during morning peak hours.
But the traffic from Jalan Gasing towards the NPE and Jalan Kelang Lama junction remains congested during the evening rush.
“We found out that traffic flow is different during the morning and evenings and we hope this contraflow will help with the after work rush,” she added.
Mangalesri Chandrasekaran, Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email mangales@propertyguru.com.my
