Malaysian Expressway System From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Malaysian expressway logo The Malaysian Expressway System (Malay: Sistem Lebuhraya Malaysia), which begins with the North- South Expressway (NSE), is currently in the process of being substantially developed. It was built by private companies under the supervision of the government highway authority, Malaysian Highway Authority (abbreviated as MHA; also referred to as Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia (LLM) in Malay). Contents [hide] 1 Overview o 1.1 AH2 border crossing dispute 2 History o 2.1 Interstate o 2.2 Greater Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley o 2.3 Johor Bahru o 2.4 Penang o 2.5 East Malaysia 3 Expressway standards o 3.1 Expressways/Highways route number categories . 3.1.1 Expressway route numbers . 3.1.2 Federal route numbers 4 Expressway monitoring and maintenance o 4.1 Monitoring o 4.2 Maintenance o 4.3 Traffic management 5 Advertising services in expressways 6 Toll system o 6.1 Multi Lane Free Flow (MLFF) o 6.2 Toll rebate o 6.3 Malaysian expressway toll rate classes . 6.3.1 Toll rate classes for every expressway in Malaysia . 6.3.2 Toll rate classes for Penang Bridge . 6.3.3 Toll rate classes for SMART Tunnel 7 Facilities on Malaysian expressways 8 Types of expressway interchanges in Malaysia 9 Safety o 9.1 Speed limits o 9.2 Types of vehicles not allowed to enter an expressway . 9.2.1 PLUS expressway networks and East Coast Expressway (ECE) . 9.2.2 Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (AKLEH) . 9.2.3 Maju Expressway (MEX) (Kuala Lumpur-Putrajaya Expressway (KLPE)) . 9.2.4 SMART Tunnel o 9.3 Accidents . 9.3.1 List of accident-prone areas in Malaysian tolled expressways and highways o 9.4 During festive seasons o 9.5 Natural hazards . 9.5.1 List of landslide-prone areas . 9.5.2 List of crosswind-prone areas . 9.5.3 List of flash flood-prone areas 10 Controversial issues 11 Interesting facts 12 List of expressways and highways in Malaysia 13 Malaysian expressways in popular culture o 13.1 Films o 13.2 Televisions . 13.2.1 Dramas . 13.2.2 Documentary o 13.3 Video games 14 Gallery 15 See also 16 References 17 External links [edit]Overview Map of major expressway routes in Peninsular Malaysia. The expressway network of Malaysia is considered the best expressway network in Southeast Asia and also in Asia after Japan and China.[1] They were 27 highways in the country and the total length is 1,630 kilometres (1012.8 miles).[1] and another 219.3 kilometres (136.3miles) is still under construction. The closed toll expressway system is similar to the Japanese Expressway System and Chinese Expressway System. All Malaysian toll expressways are managed in the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) system. Malaysian expressways exist in both West Malaysia and East Malaysia, however, the former are better- connected.[2] The North-South Expressway passes through all the major cities and conurbations in West Malaysia, such as Penang, Ipoh, the Klang Valley and Johor Bahru. The Pan Borneo Highway connects the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak with Brunei. A few major expressways in Malaysia are part of the larger Asian Highway Network. The Asian Highway Network is an international project between Asian nations to develop their highway systems, which will form main routes in the network. There are three Asian Highway routes passing through Malaysia - Asian Highway Route 2 AH2, Asian Highway Route 18 AH18 and Asian Highway Route 150 AH150 in East Malaysia.[3] The Malaysian section of Route AH2 consists of the North-South Expressway, the North-South Expressway Central Link, the Second Link Expressway, the Skudai Highway and the Johor-Singapore Causeway.[4] [edit]AH2 border crossing dispute The status of the route alignment of the Asian Highway AH2 crossing the Malaysia-Singapore border is currently being disputed. Malaysia had commissioned the Second Link Expressway as part of AH2 to maintain the primary access-controlled highway status of the route.[4] Meanwhile, Singapore had commissioned the Johor-Singapore Causeway and the Bukit Timah Expressway as part of AH2, as the Johor-Singapore Causeway is the main gateway to Singapore from Malaysia,[5] which could mean that the Skudai Highway would be included in the route alignment instead of the Second Link Expressway. [edit]History Further information: Chronology of Malaysian Expressway System events [edit]Interstate South section of NSE near Pedas-Linggi, Negeri Sembilan, facing towards Kuala Lumpur. (Before upgrading into six- lane carriageway from 1 July 2005 until 1 July 2007) withTitiwangsa Mountains in the top peak The East Coast Expressway towards Titiwangsa Range,Pahang. Before tolled expressways were introduced in the mid 1970s, most Malaysians traveled around Peninsula Malaysia on federal roads. The major reasons for building new expressways in Malaysia are the increasing number of vehicles along federal routes, the opening of major ports and airports in Malaysia, and the increasing population in major cities and towns of Malaysia. The first tolled highway in Malaysia was the Tanjung Malim-Slim River tolled road (Federal Route ) which was opened to traffic on 16 March 1966. However, in 1994, with the completion of the North-South Expressway, the toll plaza is removed and it became a toll-free highway. The Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway (Federal Route ) was built between 1976 and 1979. Meanwhile the 900 m (-- ft) Genting Sempah Tunnelwas the first highway tunnel in Malaysia, constructed between 1977 and 1979. The tunnel was officially opened in 1979 by the then Minister of Works and Communications, Dato' Abdul Ghani Gilong. The first section of the North-South Expressway was the Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Expressway, which was opened in 1981. The next sections of the North-South Expressway were the Ipoh-Changkat Jering and Seremban-Ayer Keroh stretches, which were opened to traffic in 1986. However, on 1 October 1987 the closed-toll system came into force along the Kuala Lumpur-Ayer Keroh and Ipoh-Changkat Jering stretches. The Ayer Keroh-Pagoh stretch on the North-South Expressway was opened to traffic in 1988. All sections of the North-South Expressway were completed and officially opened on 8 September 1994 by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad. Other interstate expressway projects in Malaysia are North-South Expressway Central Link (opened 1996), East Coast Expressway (opened 1997) and Kajang-Seremban Highway (opened 2008). [edit]Greater Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley The Damansara Link section of Klang Valley's Sprint Expressway near Semantan. The SMART Tunnel, during a test on 29 January 2007. The history of the highways in the Klang Valley started after the separation of Singapore from Malaysia on 9 August 1965, when the Malaysian government decided to make Port Swettenham (now Port Klang) Malaysia's new national port as a replacement for Singapore. As a result, the government planned to build a first highway in Klang Valley known as Federal Highway connecting Port Klang to Kuala Lumpur in the 1960s. In the early 1990s the federal government decided to build more expressways and highways in Klang Valley because of the increasing size and population of the Klang Valley conurbation, development of new townships and industrial estates, and the massive traffic jams along Federal Highway. The New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE), which was opened in 1990, is the second link to Kuala Lumpur from Klang after Federal Highway. In 1997, North-South Expressway Central Link (NSECL), which is the main link to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) was opened to traffic. Other expressway projects in Klang Valley are Shah Alam Expressway (SAE/KESAS) (opened 1997), Damansara-Puchong Expressway (LDP) (opened 1999), Sprint Expressway (opened 2001), New Pantai Expressway (NPE) (opened 2004), SMART Tunnel (opened 2007), KL-KLIA Dedicated Expressway or Kuala Lumpur-Putrajaya Expressway (KLPE) (now Maju Expressway (MEX)) (opened 2007) and Duta-Ulu Klang Expressway (DUKE) (opened 2009). In addition to Kuala Lumpur Inner Ring Road (KLIRR) as the inner ring road in Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 1 (KLMRR1), Kuala Lumpur Western/Northern Dispersal Link Scheme (Sprint Expressway and Duta-Ulu Klang Expressway (DUKE)) and Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 2 (KLMRR2) also act as middle ring roads of the city. Kuala Lumpur-Kuala Selangor Expressway (KLS) (formerly Assam Jawa-Templer Park Highway (LATAR)), Kajang Dispersal Link Expressway (SILK), South Klang Valley Expressway (SKVE) and the planningKuala Lumpur Outer Ring Road (KLORR) may form the outer ring roads of Kuala Lumpur. Following the formation of the Greater Kuala Lumpur in the early 2010s, there are many expressways and highways will be built in the Greater Kuala Lumpur under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). These are the Guthrie-Damansara Expressway (New North Klang Valley Expressway), Pandan-Cheras- Ampang Expressway (Besraya Extension Expressway or Shamelin Expressway) and Paroi-Senawang- KLIA Expressway. [edit]Johor Bahru The Johor-Singapore Causeway serves as the primary connection of Johor with the city-state of Singapore. Johor Bahru, the capital city of Johor, is visible in the background The Malaysia-Singapore Second Crossing serves as the secondary connection of Johor with the city-state ofSingapore. The Sungai Johor Bridge on the Senai-Desaru Expressway, Johor, the longest river bridge inMalaysia. The history of highways in Johor Bahru started in the 1980s when the city of Johor Bahru became a main southern international gateway to Malaysia from Singapore after the separation of Singapore from Malaysia on 9 August 1965. The main reasons for building expressways in Johor Bahru are the increasing size of the Johor Bahru metropolitan area since it achieved city status on 1 January 1994, and the formation of the South Johor Economic Region (SJER) or Iskandar Development Region (IDR) (now Iskandar Malaysia) on 30 July 2006.