SHAH ALAM, 17 Dec: In two years time, road users will no longer have to experience road congestion from the city centre of Klang to Kuala Lumpur or to Port Klang after the third Klang bridge is fully completed.
The six-lane bridge which will cross the Klang River will route traffic between North Klang and South Klang without going through Klang which is the third most populated town in Selangor.
Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said that the 500-metre bridge would cost RM300 million and will commence early next year.
“BN has failed to fulfil their promises to build the third bridge even though it was supposed to be done before 2008 because according to studies, more than 200,000 vehicles cross the bridges in Klang, which means that it is very packed.
“People from Sijangkang, Banting, Port Klang who wish to go to Shah Alam, Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, do not have to go through Klang Town with this third bridge and this will reduce the entry of vehicles into Klang Town,” said Abdul Khalid.
He said this after visiting the construction site of the bridge.
The location of the bridge which will cross the Klang River is located at Kampung Sungai Pinang next to North Klang and Sungai Bertih which is beside South Klang.
Moreover, according to Abdul Khalid, although the cost of the third bridge is being shouldered by the State Government, he hoped that the project would be included in the next Malaysia Plan.
“RM 300 million allocation is from the State Government reserves, however we hope it will be included in the next Malaysia Plan,” he added.
“Next month we will present the design plan and it is expected to take at least two years to complete,” said Abdul Khalid.
Abdul Khalid announced the construction of a new bridge at the Selangor State Assembly session last month.
The bridge was initially promised by the Umno-BN Federal Government a week before the 12th elections in March 2008. However, until now the federal government has yet to fulfill the promise.
Earlier, Abdul Khalid was accompanied by several state executive councillors on a working visit to several of the bridge construction locations.
Also participating in the visit were DNS Speaker, Datuk Teng Chang Kim, Executive Councillor for Local Government, Study and Research, Ronnie Liu, Health, Plantation Workers, Poverty and Caring Government, Executive Councillor Dr Xavier Jayakumar and Education, Higher Education and Human Capital Development Exco, Dr Halimah Ali.
