Traffic in Brickfields worse with opening of new ramp
2010/01/25
Nuradzimmah Daim
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There are long queues at the Jalan Tun Sambanthan traffic light as motorists make U-turns there to get to Taman Seputeh.
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KUALA LUMPUR: Residents in Brickfields and Taman Seputeh are seeing red over the opening of a new ramp from Jalan Syed Putra to Jalan Tun Sambanthan which they say is causing a traffic crawl at the junction near Sekolah Kebangsaan La Salle Brickfields 1.
A motorist who stays in Brickfields told Streets that traffic builds up as those heading to Taman Seputeh from Jalan Syed Putra now have to enter Brickfields and make a U-turn at the traffic light junction in front of the KFC outlet following the closure of the old ramp that connects directly to Taman Seputeh.
Previously, motorists from Petaling Jaya using Jalan Syed Putra were able to use the old ramp, located just next to the new one, and turn right at the intersection to get to Taman Seputeh without having to enter Brickfields.
"The crawl is caused by those who want to enter Brickfields, as well as those making a U-turn to get to Taman Seputeh," the motorist said.
"As it is, the traffic is bad during peak hours and lunch time.
"It's just a short stretch (from Jalan Syed Putra to the traffic light junction where people make the U-turn), but I was stuck for about half-an-hour before I could turn right at the junction to get to Jalan Sultan Abdul Samad.
"I'm not sure when the new ramp was opened but I noticed it on Saturday," he said.
Taman Seputeh residents are also unhappy that they now have to take a longer route to get home.
When Streets visited the area yesterday, we found that traffic had built up from the new ramp until the traffic light junction in front of KFC, which is about 100m away.
Although we managed to make the U-turn in less than half-an-hour, it was a slow drive to Taman Seputeh as other vehicles from Brickfields changed lanes to get to Jalan Syed Putra.
City Hall recently announced that the old ramp would be closed until March 18 to make way for a new road.
Motorists were also advised to go through Jalan Tun Sambanthan 2, Jalan Thambi Abdullah 1 and then Jalan Tun Sambanthan 1 before turning right to get to Taman Seputeh.
The new ramp is part of the RM26 million traffic flow project by City Hall awarded to Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB).
The project is expected to be completed in July.
Under the project, those heading to Taman Seputeh from Jalan Syed Putra (from Petaling Jaya) would have a longer route as they would have to use a proposed ramp that leads into Jalan Tun Sambanthan 4, next to the Brickfields Monorail station, and go through Jalan Tun Sambanthan before reaching Taman Seputeh.
The project, among others, also includes a one-way ramp from Taman Seputeh to Jalan Syed Putra that will be heading towards the city and another one-way ramp from Taman Seputeh heading towards Petaling Jaya.
Other roadworks will include a one-way ramp from Jalan Tun Sambanthan 4 to Jalan Syed Putra heading towards the city.
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