New access road planned

Ng (left) explaining the location of the proposed ring road and parking bays. With her at the press conference is Cheah.

A NEW ring road and 90 parking bays are being planned to improve traffic flow in the area where three temples are located in Subang Jaya, Selangor.

Subang Jaya assemblyman Michelle Ng said the new road would connect the service road in front of Subang Jaya Buddhist Association (SJBA), Sri Varatharaja Perumal Temple and Gurdwara Sahib Subang (GSS) with Jalan Lagoon Selatan located behind these buildings.

She said the new access road and parking bays were being planned together with Sunway Group.

The project is estimated to cost RM7mil, she said at a press conference to announce the plans.

Ng said parking space in the area for devotees was limited to the service road in front of the three temples.

She said that up to 1,000 devotees could be expected when all three temples carried out concurrent events, so the area could get extremely crowded.

Some people park in SS14 opposite the temples and use an overhead bridge to walk cross while others park along the service road, she noted.

“Devotees also park their vehicles along Persiaran Kewajipan, which is dangerous as this is a very busy main road,” she added.

Some solutions have previously been provided, including Monash University allowing temple visitors to use its carpark while Sunway Group has provided van services.

Ng said the places of worship had also sought permission from Subang Jaya City Council (MBSJ) to use the vacant land behind their premises as a parking lot.

“As we explored these solutions, we realised that accessibility for the temple visitors is still an issue.

“This vacant land is difficult to access as devotees will have to first drop off family members at the places of worship, exit into Lebuhraya Shah Alam, enter through the Sunway South Quay ramp and come back up through Jalan Lagoon Selatan,” she said.

Ng said Sunway Group had earlier briefed her and MBSJ councillors about its Sunway South Quay Square project.

“For that project, MBSJ’s requirement was for surrounding roads to be upgraded, so we were told that Jalan Lagoon Selatan would be upgraded to cater to the additional traffic expected,” she said at the press conference that also announced the ring road project.

Also present were Sunway Group founder and chairman Tan Sri Dr Jeffrey Cheah, Subang Jaya City Council deputy mayor Mohd Zulkurnain Che Ali and representatives from the three temples.

Cheah said Sunway decided to launch a corporate social responsibility (CSR) project as part of the road upgrading works.

“We want to resolve some issues here involving the three temples. I believe we need to have a higher purpose in life by helping society and that is what Sunway is all about.”

The ring road and parking bay project, he said, was estimated to be completed in over a year after approval.