KUALA Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has kick-started a massive resurfacing project for eight protocol roads in the city, covering a distance of more than 74km.
A protocol road is a high- priority roadway designated for official state functions, VIP motorcades and diplomatic transit.
Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Seri Fadlun Mak Ujud said the project, with an allocation of over RM100mil, would be divided into two phases.
Work started on Aug 19 and is expected to be completed by next February.
“The first phase covers 59km and will take about 24 weeks, with RM61.64mil allocated.
“The second phase covers more than 15km, with RM43mil allocated, and will take about 24 weeks, starting September.
“This project is necessary to ensure that all protocol roads in Kuala Lumpur are in good condition,” he said in a press conference at Menara DBKL 1.
Five routes are involved in the first phase, with three being Sultan Iskandar Highway-Jalan Damansara-Jalan Istana; Bulatan Syed Putra-Mid Valley Megamall; and Jalan Sultan Ismail (Jalan Kuching-Jalan Imbi slip road) and Jalan Ampang (Intermark-Jalan Raja Chulan slip road).
The other two routes are Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Highway phase 1 ingress (near the old Sungai Besi airport) to the Setiawangsa-Pantai Expressway (SPE) ingress and SPE ingress to the Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Highway phase 2 gateway.
For the second phase, three routes are involved – Bulatan Batu Caves-Jalan Sultan Sulaiman intersection with Jalan Kuching and Jalan Kinabalu; Bulatan Kampung Pandan-Menara PJD on Jalan Tun Razak and Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Highway phase 3 (from the gateway until the Kuala Lumpur-Selangor border).
Fadlun said the project would mainly use the mill-and-pave method, which would make the roads more durable compared to normal resurfacing.
He assured that DBKL would continue maintaining the capital’s other roads, covering a distance of 2,000km.
Present was Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Hannah Yeoh, who said the mill-and-pave method could increase the roads’ durability by 50% and reduce maintenance cost by 40%.
“DBKL will spend a huge amount of money on this project, so we want to make sure it is worth it,” she said.
She also said an application for more grants under the Malaysian Road Records Information System (Marris) had also been made to the Finance Ministry.
“DBKL’s expenditure for road maintenance is very high due to the many vehicles that enter Kuala Lumpur.
“During peak hours, the number of vehicles is more than one million and the total number of vehicles entering Kuala Lumpur daily is estimated to be about three million.
“Kuala Lumpur roads are often damaged due to the high usage rate.”
She also urged the people to be patient when travelling in areas where work is being done, as it would take about 48 weeks to be completed.
“The works can only be conducted from 10pm to 5am daily to not disrupt traffic on the roads, which cannot be closed due to their high usage rate.”
Fadlun and Yeoh also visited two sites where works are ongoing.
