Kepong residents appeal for interchange at MRR2

Vehicles queueing along the Selayang-Kepong Highway.

TAMAN Daya residents in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur, want the authorities to review their proposal to ease traffic congestion along the Selayang-Kepong Highway, and build an interchange connecting to the Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2).

According to residents, daily traffic congestion on Selayang-Kepong Highway is becoming unbearable because of increasing traffic over the years.

It now takes more than an hour to head to Kuala Lumpur via the Selayang-Kepong Highway during peak hours.

The residents first initiated the proposal for an interchange in 2014 but it was rejected.

Taman Intan Baiduri resident Victor Chiam, 68, said motorists would have to take a detour to Kuala Lumpur using other neighbourhood roads.

“There is always a long queue along the Selayang-Kepong Highway due to the traffic lights, and it can be quite frustrating.

“Sometimes, vehicles queueing at the traffic lights block motorists who want to turn left towards Batu Caves,” he said, hoping the interchange would materialise.

Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, in a written reply, said congestion stemmed from the long line of vehicles at the traffic lights along the Selayang-Kepong Highway.

The long queue time showed the high volume of vehicles and that the traffic condition worsened when the T-junction was made into a cross-junction, he had said.

To address the problem, the ministry proposed the construction of a 300m-high flyover on top of MRR2 but it would involve high land acquisition costs on limited space.

The short-term solution was to change the queue time of the traffic lights.

The residents said they would continue to write to the Works Ministry for the interchange.