The West Coast Expressway (WCE) and Interstate 5 (FR5) with a total length of 275.8 km is expected to receive at least 300,000 vehicles per day when completed, expected late next year or early 2025, Utusan Malaysia report.
According to the report, the opening of the route in Bandar Bukit Raja as well as in Hutan Melintang, Lekir and Changkat Chermin in Perak since May 2019 has increased traffic volume by 60% this year.
Four new alignments will be opened this year and they will be Sections 1, 2, 6 and 11 in areas including Banting, South Klang Valley Expressway (SKVE), Assam Jawa and Taiping (South). , according to WCE executive director Lyndon Alfred Felix .
He continued to open the alignment of Section 4 as the connection to the Interstate Highway was 99% completed when the land acquisition around Jalan Kebun for Section 3 connecting to the Kesas Expressway in Shah Alam was completed.
Once these are completed, WCE will focus on building the final section, 29.5 km long, located in Tanjung Karang, which will connect to Jalan Kuala Selangor-Teluk Intan on Interstate 5, Director operator added.
For the upcoming Hari Raya Aidiladha festival on June 29, Thursday, the highway is set to receive more than 100,000 vehicles as this volume has been reached during the past Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations and this number is on actually surpassed last year’s number of 60,000 vehicles, according to Felix.
Felix adds that WCE is also well suited for commercial vehicles, as traveling along the highway will save travel time by about 30 minutes to an hour. From a safety point of view, the WCE is also safer as it doesn’t go through hilly and high-risk areas, instead is mostly flat and has fewer bends, making it suitable for heavy vehicles.
Additionally, WCE is suitable for residents in and around Shah Alam, Klang and Kuala Langat who want to travel north without encountering a lot of traffic from Kuala Lumpur and from the Hulu Selangor, Gombak and Hulu districts. Langat, he said.
