PASIR GUDANG – The implementation of two projects to upgrade the Pasir Gudang Expressway (FT17), which will involve road widening, is expected to reduce congestion on the route, said Public Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi.
He said the two projects that had been approved, involving an allocation of RM5.2 million, would be implemented in phases, namely Phase 2B and Phase 3, and would include widening the four-lane route to six lanes.
Nanta said Phase 2B, involving the route from the Bandar Seri Alam/Taman Rinting intersection to the Pasir Gudang intersection, was now under construction and expected to be completed in October 2025.
For Phase 3, which is from the Perling interchange to the North-South Expressway, work is expected to start in August this year, he added.
He said upgrading works for the two projects would involve road widening, covering 12.5km, as well as repair and upgrading of the existing flyover, bridge and overpass structures.
These projects are a continuation of the Phase 1 upgrading project that was completed in 2016 and Phase 2A which was completed in 2018, he told reporters after surveying the progress of the upgrading and maintenance work on the highway, here, today.
An estimated 95,000 vehicles use the highway every day.
Nanta, who is Kapit MP, said the federal government had allocated RM107 million for road maintenance works in Johor for this year, of which some RM5 million was for upgrading of Pasir Gudang Expressway.
On whether there would be an additional allocation from the ministry to the state, Nanta said he would look into the needs of the state.
Last March 20, the state Public Works, Transport and Infrastructure Committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh was reported to have said that the state government had requested an additional allocation of RM168 million through the Public Works Department to repair roads and public infrastructure that were damaged by the floods. – Bernama, May 8, 2023
