KL’s new highway with a view

Top-notch highway: Long-suffering motorists in the Klang Valley, especially regular users of Middle Ring Road 2, have good news. Phase I of the RM5.7bil Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (SUKE) will open soon. The 24.4km expressway, which connects Sri Petaling and Bukit Antarabangsa, will also improve traffic flow in surrounding areas such as Hulu Langat. Photo: GLENN GUAN/The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: The Sungai Besi–Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (SUKE) is looking to be more than a highway for motorists.

Aside from improving connectivity between other highways and serving as a bypass for congested trunk roads in the Klang Valley, its developer Projek Lintasan Kota Holdings Sdn Bhd (Prolintas) intends to leverage on the spectacular view of the Kuala Lumpur skyline to draw visitors to its yet to be built rest stop.

Prolintas group chief executive officer Datuk Mohammad Azlan Abdullah said that plans were afoot to build the rest stop and facilities to turn it into an attraction point for city folk.

The rest and service area along the 24.4km highway which connects Sri Petaling to Bukit Antarabangsa will become the highway’s crown jewel once completed, he said.

“It won’t be your typical rest stop and it will have a unique and unobstructed view of the Kuala Lumpur skyline,” he told a media briefing on the new highway.

Azlan said the rest stop is still in the design and planning stage.

The multi-storey facility would take between 18 and 36 months to complete, he added.

He said the site of the rest and service area would be located on a one-acre piece of land near Taman Tasik Tambahan in Ampang and would be accessible from the highway (Sri Petaling-bound).

Prolintas, he said, also had plans to promote other highways under the group in a similar fashion.

“We are a city highway and want to have features that are exciting for city folks.”

The new highway represents the next generation of urban expressways featuring the first helicoidal ramp design and the highest elevated segmented box girder bridge at 56.4m along with 40 CCTVs and 22 Vehicle Incident Detection System in place to monitor the entire highway.

The opening of the Phase One of SUKE will be announced in a launching ceremony tonight.

The first phase will see a 16.6km portion connecting the Cheras-Kajang Interchange (near Taman Cuepacs) to Bukit Antarabangsa.

Prolintas expects 80,000 vehicles to use the new expressway.

Azlan said that the entire expressway is expected to be fully operational during the first quarter of 2023.

It will relieve 30% of traffic along the MRR2, 36% along Jalan Ampang and 12% along Jalan Loke Yew as well as reduce travelling time by as much as 50 minutes.