GEORGE TOWN: The RM500mil bridge linking Penang Island to Pulau Jerejak will kick off construction with road widening works approaching it, with the bridge itself to be completed in 2029, said Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin.
"The works starting next month will involve widening the road along Persiaran Bayan Indah near Queens Waterfront and building a connecting road from the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway to the bridge.
"The 1km elevated bridge will have four lanes, with two lanes in each direction, as well as pedestrian and cycling lanes.
"Construction will take three years, starting next month and ending by March 2029," he told reporters on Friday (Aug 14).
The bridge will connect the area beside Jambatan Harapan near Queensbay Mall to Pulau Jerejak and provide direct road access to the island, which currently relies on boat services.
Sim said he had urged the developer to make the bridge an iconic structure that could itself become an attraction, rather than a conventional crossing.
"They have accepted my ideas and will hire two international architects and one local architect to design the iconic bridge," he said.
Sim added that the bridge is part of the proposed redevelopment of a 32ha site on Pulau Jerejak, which is planned to include a financial centre, resort, service apartments and hotels.
"The aim is to create an ecosystem that would attract banks, venture capitalists, private equity funds and other investors to support Penang's technology and semiconductor industries.
"We have about 20,000 IC design engineers.
"They are very good and they have ideas but are now working for salaries because they do not have funders to help them start their own companies," he said.
He said having financial institutions located near the Bayan Lepas industrial area would allow investors and technology companies to interact more closely and help fund new ventures.
Sim also said about 85% of Pulau Jerejak was gazetted as forest reserve and would not be developed.
"They can only work on the 32ha that they acquire," he said, adding that development would also be subject to height restrictions because of flight controls.
He said the developer had also been asked to restore heritage sites on the island.
Pulau Jerejak has a long and complex history, having served as a leprosy settlement and hospital, quarantine station and later a high-security prison.
The island also retains remnants including a Catholic church, hospital buildings, prison structures and cemeteries where patients and others who died there were buried.
Pulau Jerejak was previously accessible by boat service from the Bayan Mutiara jetty, but the service ceased after a resort on the island closed down.
