Dear Honorable Menteri Besar of Selangor,
I am writing with hearing the sad news on the approval of the atrocious East Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE) highway.
I would not be touching on the environmental aspects in this letter. There are enough articles and reports from various environmental groups to say that de-gazetting a forest reserve to build a highway is a very bad move, especially on the sensitive terrain of Ampang Forest Reserve. For environmental concerns, please refer to these articles instead:
1. EKVE construction will have disastrous consequences
2. Environmental NGO unhappy with Selangor’s silence on EKVE
Instead, I would like to bring your attention on the planning and construction aspects of the highway.
Textbook planning concept, unsuitable terrain
First of all, we have to understand the reason for a textbook ring road planning. A ring road plan works by dispersing traffic away from the city centre through its rings. For example, a journey from north to south may be directed around the ring road, instead of going through the city centre. This helps reduce passing traffic into the city centre.
In larger cities, multiple ring roads may be planned, for example Middle Ring Road, Outer Ring Road, Ring Road 1,2,3,4 and so forth. Connecting the rings are major arterial roads which links up the rings into the city centre. You may see the an example of this type of road planning in a city like Beijing. (see Diagram A) - source : Google Maps
However it is essential for planners and architects to know the terrain of the city they were planning in. The ring road would most certainly work in the ideal world where land is flat and there are no natural features like hills, valleys, rivers and forest reserves.
This is where the proposed KL Outer Ring Road (EKVE) is flawed. Our planner’s oversight in understanding the terrain of Kuala Lumpur by planning the KL Outer Ring Road (EKVE) through the hilly terrain of eastern Kuala Lumpur is atrocious.
The eastern part of KL is flank by the Ampang Forest Reserve, which is part of the Titiwangsa Range. The terrain is hilly, steep and the soil condition is unsuitable for any development. (See Diagram B) source : Google Maps & The Star Online
Have we forgotten the Highland Tower incident where its soil condition is one of the contributing factors for the tragedy?
Should not the KL Outer Ring Road be planned to be at a more suitable terrain while protecting our forest reserves? What’s the point of gazetting a forest reserve when we are certain that it would de-gazzete whenever it suits us?
It’s like having a savings fund for your children’s education but it would certainly be used to buy a new car whenever you fancy.
A broken ring road
Understandably, if the decision to have the KL Outer Ring Road (EKVE) is so we could complete the ring road design for the ‘greater good’ of Kuala Lumpur’s urban traffic planning. Would it not be very odd that in our version of the KL Outer Ring Road, it does not actually form a ring? (See Diagram C ) original source: The Star Online
In actual fact, our KL Outer Ring Road would not be connecting to the northern portion of the so-called KL Outer Ring Road. When the proposed ring road does not form a ring, its implications would be the increase of traffic density into the northern section of the Middle Ring Road. The MRR2 and its arterial roads will now have to carry the extra capacity the new highway has created. Have this been addressed in the traffic studies or the TIA?
The current version of the KL Outer Ring Road (EKVE) will terminate at the Ukay Perdana Intersection and at the Ampang Intersection, which will then feed directly through the existing roads into the Middle Ring Road. These local roads will now be converted into major arterial roads.
From my reading of the TIA, it is interesting that the TIA did not actually address the traffic impact on Jalan Ampang which will have a major surge in volume of traffic as a result of the incomplete ring. This is a major oversight.
Elevated highway over the forest? Not as simple as it seems
The Ampang Jaya Municipal Concil (MPAJ) president is quoted as saying that the section of highway passing through the 106 hectares of de-gazetted forest reserve will be mostly elevated. Therefore implying its impact is minimal.
Perhaps the president has not been advised accordingly. We simply can’t airlift a highway and place it gently in the forest without disrupting its terrain, flora and fauna.
There will be major machinery cutting through our forest reserves, to built its foundations, pylons and infrastructures. It would be a major environmental catastrophe no matter how much preventive measures you imposed on the concessionaire. Once cut, the wound will never heal properly.
Finally, what is stopping major development from happening around this highway with the forest reserve de-gazetted? Would the Selangor government re-gazette the lands around the highway back to a Forest Reserves status?
I would suggest that we forget about the KL Outer Ring Road and focus on reducing the demand for private vehicles instead. What will happen when in another 10 years, some traffic consultant/planner says we need another ‘outer outer ring road’? Do we de-gazette more forest to build one on top of the Titiwangsa Range?
While I understand that your adviser may have advised you that this highway is an essential component in our urban planning, I hope this letter would help you form an objective opinion or seek an alternative opinion to arrive at a wise decision to not allow this atrocious EKVE highway.
ANG BC is an architect, urban planner and a concerned resident of Greater Kuala Lumpur.
