Proposal for new motorcycle lanes at Causeway to be considered, says Ahmad Maslan

JOHOR BARU: The proposal to add another 25 motorcycle lanes to the Johor Causeway will be brought up to the National Budget Office, says Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan.

Ahmad said that the state government has requested for funding from the Federal Government to increase the number of motorcycle lanes at the Causeway from 50 to 75.

"Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi had brought up this matter and I believe this is a reasonable request. The Mentri Besar also said that the additional 25 motorcycle lanes will help to reduce congestion at the Causeway,” said Ahmad.

"As such, we will bring this matter up to the National Budget Office for them to make a decision with regards to the funding," he added.

He said that the infrastructure of the 25 additional lanes would cost about RM2.57mil.

Ahmad Maslan said this at a press conference after visiting the Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Building here on Monday (Feb 6) and following a briefing from agencies at the building.

Also present was Johor works, transportation and infrastructure committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh.

Ahmad added that several measures are also considered to ease congestion at the Causeway.

He said that one of these measures is the increase in the number of lanes from one lane to two lanes for lorries that are not carrying any loads.

"We will also be increasing the number of scanners for pedestrians from only one currently, to three. We expect this to be completed by June," he said, adding that a budget of RM1mil has been allocated for the two additional scanners.

The state government had said that it was looking into increasing the number of lanes for motorcycles from 50 to 75 each way, Mohamad Fazli Mohamad told The Star.

He said that there is also a proposal to have a “single clearance system” between Malaysia and Singapore to ease traffic congestion.