Monday 22 July 2013

Jelas & LekaS: The Plan Still On?

Besides the West Coast Expressway (Taiping-Banting) in which the concession agreement has been signed, there are 2 other proposed expressways in the northern region, which are the Jelas & LekaS. Both seem to be still under planning stage.

Jelapang-Selama-Batu Kawan Expressway (Jelas), as its name suggests, connects Ipoh (Jelapang) to Penang (Batu Kawan). 

Jelas connects small towns along the way, and will be linked to North-South highway (PLUS) at Jelapang & Batu Kawan, linked to LekaS at Selama and Penang 2nd bridge at Batu Kawan.

       The proposed route map of Jelas


One of the interchange of Jelas is Lima Kongsi, which is near Valdor & Sg Bakap of Seberang Perai Selatan. Asas Dunia has a lot of land in this area, while Tambun Indah's Bandar Tasek Mutiara is also not far away.

       Possible Jelas route at Lima Kongsi interchange

Lebuhraya Kulim Selatan (LekaS), not Kajang/Seremban highway, connects Sungai Petani, Kulim and Bandar Baharu. It is linked to PLUS at both ends, which are Sg Petani & Bandar Baharu. It is also linked to Butterworth-Kulim Expressway (BKE) at Kulim.


       LekaS propsed route


Jelas is a 6-lane 116km highway with 2km tunnel and provides an alternative route between Penang and Ipoh. I wonder how many motorists would like to exit PLUS highway at Batu Kawan, pay the tol 2 extra times to use Jelas to Ipoh and vice versa. From the map, the distance of Plus & Jelas between Penang & Ipoh is almost the same. Of course unless the tol rate of Jelas is significantly cheaper or during peak season, perhaps Jelas may face low traffic problem.

The project of Jelas & LekaS are given to a same company Beta Mutiara Corporation Berhad under the "build-operate-transfer" scheme. As long as the tol rate is acceptable, the construction of these two expressways should benefit the people.

7 comments:

  1. Recent hot topic in my area Penang and Sungai Petani, said the plan will approve soon. My friends just invest as sub-con. Hopefully this is true...

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  2. The corporate office of Beta Mutiara Corporation Berhad in Ipoh already closed down. Can anyone confirm if these projects are still under BETA?

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  3. BETA corporate office in Ipoh are still operating daily , please check before comment !!! In fact, they have another bigger new office in Perak now !!!


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  4. These 2 projects seem no where near to materialize... sigh

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  5. Are you sure PG? Their office was just nearby mine, and it's now under "FOR SALES/RENT". They owe me $$ since last year, non of their tel lines are working and the so called Dato is also not reachable!

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  6. Bump into this site and would like to share this news :

    http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2015/12/14/bmc-work-on-jelas-to-begin-soon-longest-road-tunnel-in-asia-also-to-be-built/

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your info, Shuk. It's good to hear that :)

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