There is still room for improving the newly-opened Telisai-Lumut Highway and the public should support efforts to ensure safety of motorists.

This was stated by Eddie bin Dato Paduka Haji Sunny, Permanent Secretary (Technical and Professional) at the Ministry of Development (MoD), while responding to concerns raised by some passengers over the 18.6-km highway that took six years to complete at a cost of $168 million.

"The Ministry of Development which overlooks the project is aware of the comments made by the public... Judging by the recent incidents, I think there is still room for improvement and there might be a need to review one of the U-turns," the permanent secretary told the Weekend Bulletin.

"The authorities have to see what options are available," he said, adding that flyovers will be out of the question as they are very expensive to build.

"We will try to look for solutions which can be applied immediately ... and the ministry will work with the consultants in reviewing some of the issues affecting the road," the permanent secretary assured.

A major worrying factor for passengers using the new highway is the U-turns. One of them is the first U-turn when coming from the Kuala Belait direction, especially for users who are coming from the Lumut Bypass as it is now one of the routes used by commuters to Kuala Belait or Seria.

Shala Lee, who works in a company located in Kuala Belait, said she now has to travel more to get to a U-turn which is 4km away on the Telisai-Lumut Highway. "It was pretty bad on the first day on 29 June as we found ourselves joining a queue at 7.30am which began on the first bridge around 150m before the U-turn," said Shala, adding that the condition somehow improved after that with the severity of the queue lessening; but it still protrudes onto the fast lane.

"It's okay for me because I can see it from far but my worry is for those who are not used to using the road yet," Shala said, further voicing her concern over the likely need to make last minute braking.

Kanniga Pubalan from Kg Lumut, who also tried the new route at the same time on June 29, told the Weekend Bulletin that after experiencing the long queue she resorted to using another route on the second day.

"Since my home is nearer to the exit of Jln Tengah, I decided to try the new highway because I thought it would be quicker but I ended in the queue for around 10 minutes," added Kanniga as she informed that it' used to be quicker with the old road at least by five minutes.

"Exiting the U-turn also takes time because we have to be wary of incoming traffic and during that time there was heavy incoming traffic coming from the Telisai direction" she said, adding that yesterday she decided to use the fin Tengah Road and cut through the RPN Lumut Bypass and make a U-turn on the Lumut-Seria Bypass.

The total journey only takes about eight minutes on a normal day, she noted.

In the interview, the permanent secretary expressed hope that people will be more careful while using the road.

As cliché as it may sound, but this is a new road and you (the public) are not familiar with it yet as it has been open for three days only, so please, even at the straight sections, do not exceed the speed limit," the permanent secretary urged.

He also mentioned that he has received information about animal road kills along the new dual carriageway. "Even the animals aren't used to the new highway, yet and you'll never know what can come out from the forest and cross the road."

Some members of the public have also voiced out opinions on social media pointing out the lack of a flyover on the Telisai-Lumut Highway compared to the Bukit Beruang Interchange which was opened this year.

Addressing the issue, he said the roads are built based on a master plan and even if there are designs that have been incorporated in the master plan, it will be built, but it takes time. Even then, it cannot be guaranteed that the outcome will be the same as the ones in planned as it depends on the present research data.

"We need some data to know whether there is a need to build extra facilities," the permanent secretary said, adding that there has to be sufficient users of the road for it to have a flyover.

Before concluding the interview, he mentioned that more signage may be needed to be installed, especially at areas with limited visibility.

Meanwhile, the Royal Brunei Police Force said that since the opening of the highway two days ago, two one-hour speed limit enforcement operations were exercised by the Traffic Control and Investigation Department (JSKLL) and a total of 41 drivers who exceeded the maximum speed limit of 150km/h were caught.

YB Awang Haji Mohd Shafiee bin Ahmad, a Legislative Council member and also as the Village Head of Kg Lumut 1, advised the road users to be patient and abide the traffic laws.

Source:
@BRUDIRECT.COM

by BruDirect.com

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