An open letter to the Selangor state government

It is no secret that the support for Pakatan Rakyat in Selangor has taken a beating in the last couple of months. And with a slew of highly unpopular, and at times irresponsible, decisions being made, it will be inevitable that more votes will be lost in the next general election.

Unless... Pakatan Rakyat wakes up and proves that it is a government for the people, and a government which implements projects with due diligence and responsibility.

Petaling Jaya’s One-Way Loop (OWL), which was implemented beginning Sunday Oct 12, is a classic example of political suicide.

The OWL, which sees the main roads which separate the residential from the commercial zones in the city centre turned into four-laned one-way streets, was designed after a traffic study was done by a private traffic consultant.

However, what is sorely missing is the all important traffic impact assessment, not to mention the environment and social impact assessments.

The traffic study which the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) commissioned and paid for was limited to just the traffic patterns along the roads which would be seeing changes in direction of traffic flow. It does not take into consideration any other roads, not even the perennially jammed Federal Highway which bisects this loop.

The study boasts of reducing the time to traverse the almost 4km loop to a mere seven minutes (from how many minutes before implementation, I am not sure). However, an impact assessment will reveal the ugly fact that not many people actually have a travel plan which passes point A and returns to the same point A.

For traffic along the roads affected by the OWL, much of the flow is headed for the Federal Highway, a highway which looks like a car park for many hours a day. The loop, therefore, will serve as a longer and wider queuing lane for ingress into the Federal Highway.

The most amazing feature of the loop is the circles it draws into driving patterns. Pardon the pun, but this is reality.

Traffic along the Federal Highway from the direction of Subang Jaya which is heading for the Tun Hussein Onn National Eye Hospital or the Gurdwara Sahib Petaling Jaya or the Armada Hotel cannot turn left at the Jalan Barat interchange. Instead, they have to continue along the Federal Highway, make a u-turn at the Jalan Timur interchange, and return to the Jalan Barat interchange.

Alternatively, they can exit the Federal Highway at Jalan Templer, pass by the Pencala roundabout, and come down Jalan Barat, where they will have to weave between a narrow break in the road median in order to get into the correct lane for their destination.

Access to Jalan Produktiviti, where government departments such as the Road Transport Department (JPJ), the Petaling Jaya courts, the Chemistry Department and the Malaysian Productivity Centre are located, is only from Jalan Timur. Traffic from PJ south will have to pass by the Jalan Changgai roundabout, and make a big loop pass the under construction PJ Sentral to come back to Jalan Timur and the same Jalan Sultan roundabout in order to get into the Jalan Produktivti area (and the road to the iconic A&W and Shah Motel and PJ Club).

Not quite a productive route, I’d have to say.

From the Taman Jaya LRT station, PJX, and Amcorp Mall, going to Jalan Gasing, Section 5, and Old Klang Road means a not so fun roundabout ride, passing by the Jalan Changgai roundabout to make a complete loop through the heart of the city, passing by the bumpy interlocking paver road fronting MBPJ, back to the roundabout. Add in traffic from PJ Sentral when it is completed and occupied.

Potential horror journeys

Of course, this fossil fuel burning exercise could be minimised if more of the existing median along Jalan Timur is dug up. But the reluctance of MBPJ to conduct an impact assessment leaves them blind to such potential horror journeys and solutions.

Bukit Bintang Boys School serves mainly residents of Sections 11, 12 and 14. What the OWL does is to cut off direct access for them. In order to enter the school, one has to come from the Asia Jaya side of Jalan Utara, meaning travelling round the whole OWL, unless traffic on the Federal Highway is not stalled.

Other not so easy to reach places include, and are not limited to, Jalan 223 (Menara Axis / Crystal Plaza, Image Motor, etc), St Paul’s Church, the Spastic Centre, and Lorong Utara.

With a proper impact assessment, MBPJ will also realise that the little (as in very narrow) road directly behind their headquarters, Jalan 7/4, is destined to become a major thoroughfare for south-bound traffic wishing to avoid the Jalan Changgai roundabout.

A detailed impact assessment will also reveal that traffic on the KL-bound Federal Highway will be further held back by traffic exiting at the Jalan Timur egress.

All this impact is based on current situation, which means it does not include the potential havoc of traffic from the upcoming 25-acre KL Eco City, the 59-acre Bangsar South, and the 20-acre PJ Icon City.

It would be too cumbersome to describe the countless other adverse impacts such as Jalan Bukit and the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre, the missing signages, and yet to be put in place safety features.

I do not need to remind politicians that development plans like the OWL are political decisions. There is no need to say that developments which bring inconveniences and suffering which can be avoided to the voting public is like shooting oneself in the foot.

This is one disaster-in-waiting which can be averted if the OWL is not implemented until and unless a detailed impact assessment is done and MBPJ engages in dialogue with the wider public (that is to include non-PJ residents) who will be affected by the OWL.

There is no immediate demand for such a traffic system, and a little bit of patience and care can reduce a lot of heartache and economic waste.

Talk of carbon free city, sustainable development, LA21. All talk and no action - that’s MBPJ, and seemingly the Selangor government.

DAVID FOO is a Petaling Jaya resident.