SELECTED city-centre roads could be closed to traffic at night for runners as Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) studies ways to create safer recreational routes in the capital.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Hannah Yeoh said DBKL was studying whether selected roads could be closed at night between 10pm and midnight for runners, using a concept similar to KL Car Free Morning.
She said DBKL was analysing traffic data to identify routes with fewer vehicles between 10pm and midnight.
“We want to see how we can extend a similar concept for sections in Kuala Lumpur.
“We can close them at night just for runners, but we want to make sure it is safe,” she said during a town hall session at the Perdana Botanical Garden with running clubs, race organisers and sports associations Saturday (June 13).
Yeoh said timing was important as DBKL did not want road closures to affect businesses.
She said some roads could not be considered because they were protocol routes, including roads leading to Parliament and Istana Negara.
Apart from studying potential running routes, DBKL also plans to audit existing walkways and pavements in the city centre.
Yeoh said running clubs would be involved in the exercise as regular users were often more familiar with recurring hazards than engineers conducting inspections.
During the town hall, she asked that clubs nominate coordinators or representatives to serve as contact points for future engagement with DBKL.
“We already have the data on the volume of cars on roads, which roads at what times, for us to analyse.
“But we also want to do an audit on existing walking pathways.
“We want to involve the clubs because they would have been there many times, lodged multiple complaints and know the recurring issues,” she said.
Yeoh said the initiative would start in the city centre, around Dataran Merdeka, Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad and DBKL headquarters, before considering expanding elsewhere.
“We have to start with the city centre first,” she said.
She said expanding the study too widely at the start would make it harder to manage.
Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Seri Fadlun Mak Ujud said DBKL would also discuss with the police possible changes to KL Car Free Morning.
He said this could include allowing runners and cyclists earlier access to parts of the route, with sections potentially opened from 5:30am for fast-paced runners before other users enter later in the morning.
