Well, they will always make life difficult if we try to avoid paying the toll. When I pass this area during the weekends, I can see the long queue for those who try to get in and out of Bandar Mahkota Cheras without paying the toll. 

Until the next time, cheers.

The Star, Thursday January 5, 2012

Quick change of lights causing jams in Bandar Mahkota Cheras

IT WAS a Saturday during the school holidays and yet Persiaran Bandar Mahkota Cheras 1 was choked with traffic that stretched almost two kilometres.

Thus you can imagine the traffic condition during peak hours on weekdays.

Bandar Mahkota Cheras (BMC) Residents’ Association chairman Bryan Tong said the traffic nightmare began in 2008 when the access road to the Cheras-Kajang Highway was re-opened.

Slow traffic: The access road to exit Bandar Mahkota Cheras to get to the Cheras-Kajang Highway is congested even on a weekend.

 

“At the traffic lights installed at the entrance to BMC, the green signal only flashes for 20 seconds for traffic exiting our township to the highway and this creates congestion.

“Strangely, whenever the traffic lights malfunctioned, the traffic flow is smoother,” he said.

Bandar Mahkota Cheras Business Association president Henry Chin said the difficulty of accessing the township is having a negative effect on businesses in the area.

He pointed out that there were no signboards to direct motorists from the highway into the township.

“Those unfamiliar with the area have difficulty locating BMC.

“Furthermore, the traffic congestion is a deterrent to outsiders and this has caused eateries, boutique owners and other business operators to lose business opportunities,” he said.

They hope the Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA), Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) and the highway concessionaire Grand Saga can find a way to solve the traffic woes.

“As a short-term measure, we hope the police can control the traffic during peak hours,” Tong said.

MPKj councillor Lee Kee Hiong said the council had taken the initiative and came up with a plan to change the six-phase traffic system into four instead, to reduce the waiting time.

“The council was given the run-around instead.

“We submitted the plan to MHA but were told that we did not need their approval and had to get the concessionaire’s instead.

“When we approached the concessionaire, they said MHA was supposed to give the approval,” she said.