Illegal parking and traffic congestion in Section 11, Petaling Jaya have reached a boiling point, with residents and business owners calling for urgent intervention from the local authority.
The mature neighbourhood’s thriving eateries and its proximity to University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) have turned
narrow residential roads like Jalan Dato Mahmud 11/4 and Jalan Bukit 11/2 into bottlenecks.
This has resulted in motorists making dangerous illegal U-turns along Jalan 11/4 and frequent double-parking that blocks emergency access.
While Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) has stepped up enforcement through clamping and summonses, stakeholders argue that punitive measures have not been successful as they fail to address the shortage of gazetted parking bays.
They are pushing for the conversion of wide road shoulders and grass patches into legal parking zones.
Engineering a remedy
Resident and retiree David Foo said plenty of space was available at Jalan 11/4 that could be converted into proper parking bays.
“People continue to park on both sides of the road now regardless of the yellow lines.
“I had proposed legalising parking wherever it is convenient.
“However, I was told that some residents had objected.
“But whether the parking is legal or not, people are going to park there anyway.
“The only difference is whether the city council collects
revenue or the drivers get summoned.
“I feel we should create parking on grass patches from the foot of Jalan 11/4 to the end by covering the drains.
“In addition, the road in front of the shops on Jalan 11/2 needs a proper engineering solution,” he said, adding that traffic flow should ideally be circular.
“The entrance should be from Chuan Lee restaurant at the foot of Jalan 11/4 and the exit at the Satellite 33 restaurant (at the end of Jalan 11/5).
“This way, drivers can go around safely if there is no parking available or if they are picking up passengers.”
A check by StarMetro showed that MBPJ had been clamping cars and issuing summonses for illegal parking along Jalan 11/4.
On Wednesdays, the congestion eases significantly because Chuan Lee restaurant is closed.
Along Jalan 11/5, one half of the one-way street has cars parked on the left side next to Satellite 33 restaurant, while the other half has cars parked in front of houses.
“Ultimately, if more parking bays are provided, it would minimise a lot of these recurring issues,” said Foo.
Infrastructure adjustments
Former MBPJ councillor Kavin Thayalan said when he was the zone councillor, he had proposed creating additional parking bays on the road shoulder along Jalan 11/4 near Grand City restaurant.
“For Jalan 11/2 and 11/4, we face persistent issues with illegal parking and dangerous U-turns.
“Although MBPJ installed ‘No U-Turn’ signs, many motorists continue to disregard them.”
Regarding the proposal to create parking bays along Jalan 11/4, he said some residents felt that having cars parked directly outside their homes might compromise their safety or encourage lorry drivers to use the area as a parking zone.
“We frequently see drivers double-parking cars in the middle of the road to pick up food orders.
“These drivers can be quite arrogant and rude when informed they are blocking traffic,” said Kavin.
Section 11 Residents Association chairman Dr Renuka Yogalingam said last year, two letters were submitted to MBPJ.
“The first on March 10, 2025 was an application by business owners along Jalan 11/4 requesting two-hour parking.
“This was followed by another letter from the Section 11 RA on Oct 20, 2025 echoing the need for a two-hour limit along the same stretch.
“The business owners around Jalan 11/4 said the current parking capacity is insufficient for their needs.
“A significant portion of existing bays is frequently occupied all day by visitors and staff from UMMC,” she said.
Consequently, she said customers face difficulty finding parking.
“On behalf of these traders, we formally applied for a limited-time parking system to be implemented directly in front of these business premises.”
She said currently, many motorists park there for the entire day, effectively monopolising the space.
This makes it difficult for short-term visitors and patrons to access the shops for their daily needs.
“Implementing a two-hour limit will increase the turnover rate of these spaces, ensure fairer access for all users and support the economic vitality of our local businesses,” she said.
A resident who wished to be known only as Lim, said she had no objections if one side of Jalan 11/4 could be turned into parking bays.
“Perhaps the authorities can cover up the drains along Jalan 11/6 and 11/8 and turn this road shoulder into additional parking too,” she said.
Resident Gowmathy Naidu said even with the convex traffic mirror at the junction of Jalan 11/4 and 11/13, cars still speed and accidents happen.
Another Section 11 resident, Ruben Mahendran, said MBPJ cannot instal any more speed breakers on Jalan 11/4 because it is an alternative road for ambulances.
“There are other parking problems at lunchtime because of the school buses that ply Jalan 11/2, 11/5 and 11/7.
“We had incidents where ambulances and big vehicles like lorries for waste management could not go through,” he said.
Proper road etiquette
Gowmathy recalled incidents where motorists who had parked outside her gate were not at all apologetic.
“A driver was in the car reading newspapers while waiting for his wife to finish her food shopping.
“I told him I needed to reverse my car out. He went off in a huff.
“Another involved a woman driver who was blocking my gate.
“I signalled that I needed to turn into my house. She refused to move.”
A senior medical consultant who declined to be named said her front gate had been blocked by rude drivers countless time.
There was once when she had to attend to an emergency case at the hospital.
“This particular driver went to buy food nearby.
“She became angry that I honked for 10 minutes.
“She reversed her car to fully block my gate, rolled down the passenger side window and glared at me.
“She then alighted from the car to start recording a video.
“I had to waste a few hours making a police report due to this threatening behaviour.
“By law, no action can be taken as there was no verbal or physical threat.
“I’ve also had a lorry driver park in front of my gate to offload goods for a neighbouring house.
“A woman verbally threatened me after I suggested the driver move further up where there was ample space,” she said.
Retiree Jacinta Philip said the junction between Jalan 11/6 and Jalan 11/3 housed several business premises, including elderly care centres.
“Cars are parked all along these small roads, so there are many blind spots.”
Thomas K, who frequents the eateries along Jalan 11/4, said he had honed his defensive driving skills especially with the presence of several elderly residents and people with mobility issues.
“It’s chock-a-block here from morning until the late afternoon. Parking is a nightmare even with the existing bays.
“The back lane behind Grand City restaurant has bays on the left side which are full most of the time.
“Yet cars are parked on the right side, which block the way for lorries involved in waste collection,” he said.
