I was very surprised to hear that the LDP concessionaire Litrak had indicated plans to expand roads in Petaling Jaya near the LDP highway. The purpose mentioned was to take some of the pressure off the highway, especially in the area between Taman Megah and Kelana Jaya.

It is very nice to see that the status quo in Malaysia is still the same. Despite calls for more public transit, the only solution that comes to the minds of the planners is to have more roads.

It is not enough that the creation of the LDP has completely divided Petaling Jaya and Bandar Sunway, and limited accessability for pedestrians, public transit and drivers. It is not enough that they have acquired a toll concession agreement through secret means, and on the back of the rakyat. Now the concessionaire wants to subdivide what is left of Petaling Jaya by building more roads.

There is no solution that will reduce traffic on the LDP between Kelana Jaya and Taman Megah. The road has very sharp curves, and then there is the presence of the pillars for the LRT guideway and the traffic at Kelana Jaya station. All of these combine to block traffic movement.

Traffic must be reduced but there is no reason to build parallel roads. There are enough roads and expressways already. There is already a parallel expressway (the North-South Central Link). There is the Subang-Kelana link, which will open by the end of 2008.

The best and fastest solution would be to make better use of what already exists.

RapidKL should extend LRT service to the Lembah Subang area, using the existing track and platforms at the Subang Depot as a temporary station. They can also increase the number of feeder buses serving Kelana Jaya station, and bring feeder bus service to the temporary station at Lembah Subang. More frequent service on RapidKL Trunk bus route T43 (or creating a shorter route like Damansara to Puchong) will definitely help. More public transit will reduce the traffic on the LDP.

The Works Ministry should redesign the Majlis Link so that it forms a direct connection Jalan Majlis with the Federal Highway. Since it was opened last year, drivers have been using it as a shortcut between the LDP and Federal Highway. This makes sense because using this link reduces pressure on the LDP/Federal Highway interchange. With this simple, fast change, traffic will be able to transfer smoothly between the LDP, Federal Highway, and future Subang-Kelana Link.