Weekend activity: Visitors queueing as early as 8am to visit Johor Zoo on the first weekend in the state. — Bernama
JOHOR BARU: Traffic congestion at major roads in the city area has increased following the change in Johor’s weekend period to Saturday-Sunday starting this year, says a state executive councillor.
State works, transportation, infrastructure and communication committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh said it was due to the same peak hours for civil servants, private sector workers and Singaporeans.
“We expect roads around Johor Baru, including highways, to be more congested, especially during peak hours, following the changes in our weekend period.
“Therefore, we are now carrying out various road upgrades including the widening of the North-South Expressway, the Pasir Gudang Highway, Senai-Desaru Expressway and other major routes to overcome this,” said Mohamad Fazli, who is also Bukit Pasir assemblyman, yesterday.
He hopes the various road upgrading projects that are being carried out, especially around Johor Baru, will run according to schedule.
“Even if the upgrading road projects are done in stages, we aim to disperse traffic and prevent congestion within Johor Baru from getting worse,” he said.
Mohamad Fazli said among the long-term efforts taken to solve traffic congestion here was having a more integrated public transport system.
“Three routes have been identified to disperse traffic to and from Johor Baru’s downtown area, namely the Iskandar Puteri, Tebrau and Skudai routes.
“This effort is being finalised and if it goes according to plan, it will complement the Rapid Transit System Link (RTS Link) service, which is scheduled to operate in January 2027.
“We hope the people of Johor Baru will make public transport their top choice of transport,” he added.
On Oct 7, 2024, Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim announced that the state would change its weekends back to Saturday and Sunday after 11 years, the latest in a series of switches.
Johor had observed a Friday-Saturday weekend since Jan 1, 2014. That reversed a 1994 decision when the state switched to a Saturday-Sunday weekend during Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s tenure as mentri besar.
Under British rule, the Unfederated Malay State had had a Friday-Saturday weekend.
Meanwhile, Mohamad Fazli said the Federal Government would start the dam construction in Sungai Sedili Besar and water treatment plants, such as Layang 2 and Semangar 3, later this year.
He said the projects, expected to be completed within the next five years, would help address Johor’s needs for treated water.
