Malaysian Expressway System

The Malaysian expressway system (Sistem Lebuhraya Malaysia), which began with the North-South Expressway, is in the process of being substantially increased. It was built by private companies under the supervision of the government highway authority, Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia (Malaysian Highway Authority).

Overview

The Malaysian expressway network can be considered the best expressway network in Southeast Asia and third in Asia after Japan and China. The total length is 1,192 kilometres (740 miles). The closed toll expressway system is similar to Japan Expressway Systems and China Expressway Systems.

A few major expressways in Malaysia are part of the larger Asian Highway Network. 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 2 Asian Highway routes passing through Malaysia - Asian Highway Route 2 and Asian Highway Route 18.

The Malaysian section of Route AH2 consists of:-

History

Before tolled expressways were introduced in the mid 1970s, most Malaysians travel around Peninsula Malaysia on federal roads.

The first tolled expressway in Malaysia was the Tanjung Malim-Slim River tolled road (Federal Route 1), which was completed in 1974.

The Karak Highway (Federal Route 2) was built between 1976 and 1979.

The first section of the North-South Expressway was Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Expressway, which was opened in 1981. The construction of Penang Bridge began in 1982 and was completed in 1985. This bridge was opened to traffic on 14 September 1985. 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. The Ayer Keroh-Pagoh stretch on the North-South Expressway was opened to traffic in 1988. All sections of the North-South Expressway were officially opened on 8 September 1994.

The New Klang Valley Expressway, which was opened in 1991, is the second link to Kuala Lumpur from Klang after Federal Highway. In 1997, North-South Expressway Central Link, which is the main link to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) was opened to traffic.

The Malaysia-Singapore Second Crossing, which is the second link to Singapore after Johor Causeway, was opened to traffic on 18 April 1998.

Expressway standards

The construction, standards, management and usage of expressways in Malaysia are subject to Federal Roads Act (Private Management) 1984. In Malaysia, expressways are defined as high-speed routes with at least four lanes (two in each direction) and may be either limited access or partial access. Most expressways in Malaysia are limited-access expressways.

Before the mid-1990s, there were no specific coding system for the expressways. When more and more expressways were built, a system of expressway numbering was applied to all expressways. Expressways are labeled with the letter E followed by assigned numbers, for example the code for North-South Expressway southern route is E2. The expressways have green signs and the text colour is white.

However, there are some exceptions in some highways. Some highways like Federal Highway (Federal Route 2) and Skudai Highway (Federal Route 1) retain their federal route codes. In addition, there are 2 highways in Malaysia which are classified as municipal roads - Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 1 and Jelutong Expressway.

The syntax for highway exits in Malaysia is in format EXIT xxnn, where xx is the expressway code number (can be one or two digits) and nn is the two-digit assigned number for each highway exits. For example, Johor Bahru exit at the end of North-South Expressway is labeled as EXIT 257, where the last two digits (57) are the assigned exit number and the first digits (2) is the expressway route number (E2). Expressways have distance markers in green colour (blue for federal expressways) placed every 100 m.

For more information, please refer to Road signs in Malaysia articles.

All expressways must have at least 4 lanes (2 in each direction) separated by a median divider. Both sides must have an emergency lane. The median divider in Malaysian expressways are usually narrow due to high costs of claiming lands. However, median dividers at some parts of North-South Expressway and Karak Expressway are wide.

Many people are confused between expressways and dual-carriageways. All expressways are dual-carriageways but not all dual-carriageways are expressways because an expressway should have either limited or partial access via interchanges. In addition, there are some 2-lane federal main roads which are called as highways because of its function as main roads but these roads cannot be classified as highways or expressways because an expressway must be a dual-carriageway (with at least 2 lanes at each sides) with limited or partial access only.

Expressway monitoring and maintainance

Since 1986, Malaysian expressways have been built by private companies under the supervision of the government highway authority, Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia (Malaysian Highway Authority). Every private concession company, such as PLUS Expressway, MTD Prime and the others have monitored and maintained their expressways.

Meanwhile the Projek Penyelenggaraan Lebuhraya Berhad or Propel (founded on 1992) have repaired and maintaned their highway facilities such as road works, cleaning works on laybys and rest and service area, trimming grass along expressway areas, road furnitures installment and many more.

From the end of 2006, every expressway in Malaysia is monitored by the Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia Traffic Management Centre (LLM TMC).

Toll system

Every expressway and highway in Malaysia has a toll system, which is either a closed toll system or open toll system.

Open system - Users only have to pay at certain toll plazas within the open system range for a fixed amount.
Closed system - Users collect toll tickets (North South Expressway issues the transit ticket and the East Coast Expressway issues the transit card) before entering the expressway at respective toll plazas and pay an amount of toll at the exit toll plaza. The toll rate in this system is based on the distance traveled.

The electronic payment system, Touch 'n Go and Smart TAG, have been made compulsory in all expressways since 1 July 2004, following the instruction of the Works Ministry, Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu. Other electronic payment systems that were previously used by other highway operators, like FasTrak for all Gamuda Expressway Networks and SagaTag in Cheras - Kajang Expressway, were abolished in a move to standardise the electronic payment method.

Malaysian expressway toll rate classes

There are toll rate classes for every Malaysian expressway except Penang Bridge where toll rates are not the same.

Toll rate classes for every expressway in Malaysia

Class 0: Motorcycles, bicycles or vehicles with 2 or less wheels
Class 1: Vehicles with 2 axles and 3 or 4 wheels excluding taxis
Class 2: Vehicles with 2 axles and 5 or 6 wheels excluding buses
Class 3: Vehicles with 3 or more axles
Class 4: Taxis
Class 5: Buses

Toll rate classes for Penang Bridge

Class 1: Motorcycles
Class 2: Motorcycle with sidecars, cars including station wagon and commercial vehicles on three wheels
Class 3: Lorries, vans and buses with two axles and four wheels
Class 4: Lorries, vans and buses with two axles and five and six wheels
Class 5: Vehicles with three axles
Class 6: Vehicles with four axles
Class 7: Vehicles with five or more axles

Safety

Speed limits

The default speed limit in Malaysian expressways is 110 km/h, but in certain areas lower speed limit like 90 km/h and 80 km/h is applied especially in large urban areas, crosswinds and in dangerous mountainous routes.

Accidents

Malaysian expressway system can be potential sites of most of the fatal highway accidents in Malaysia, especially during festive seasons. However, most road accidents in Malaysia happen on federal roads, state roads and municipal roads according to police statistics. Most of the accidents are caused by the attitude of certain road users who loves speeding over the speed limit. Therefore, massive nationwide operations known as Ops Sikap are held by the police to ensure safety on all roads in Malaysia during festive seasons.

List of accident-prone areas in Malaysian toll expressway and highways

Km 25 of Gunung Pulai near Kulai, Johor on North-South Expressway Southern route
Km of Jalan Duta toll plaza, Kuala Lumpur on North-South Expressway Northern route
Km 256 of Jelapang toll plaza, Perak on North-South Expressway Northern route
Km 31 of Gombak, Selangor on Karak Expressway (not far from Genting Sempah Tunnel).
Sungai Besi sharp corner flyover bridge from Jalan Dewan Bahasa (formerly Jalan Lapangan Terbang) on Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 1 towards Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Expressway.

Natural hazards

Other hazardous conditions on expressways include landslides, fog, storms, road damages, and flash floods.

List of landslide-prone areas

Km of Bukit Lanjan, Selangor on New Klang Valley Expressway
Km of Gua Tempurung, Perak on North-South Expressway Northern route
Km of Bukit Tinggi, Pahang on Karak Expressway

List of flash flood-prone areas

Km 15 of Batu Tiga Interchange on Federal Highway
Km of Shah Alam Interchange on New Klang Valley Expressway
Km of Sungai Besi on Sungai Besi Expressway

Facilities on Malaysian expressways

There are several facilities provided along Malaysian expressway as follows:-

Rest and Service Area - Rest and service areas (RSA) are located roughly about every 60 km along interstate expressways such as North-South Expressway and East Coast Expressway. However, some urban expressways may also provide RSA too such as Shah Alam Expressway. A typical RSA may have a food court, craft shop, public toilets and baths, public telephones, huts (wakaf), petrol stations and also prayer rooms (surau) for Muslims. Some RSAs may have ATM machines, convenience shops such as "Highway Mart", "MagStore" and many more and also fast food restaurants. The wireless broadband internet facility is now available in RSAs and the Tapah RSA in Perak became the first RSA on a Malaysian expressway to provide wireless broadband internet facilities.
Layby - Laybys are basic parking lots beside the expressways that may also have public toilets and baths, huts (wakaf) and public telephones. However, some laybys may have a few food stalls and petrol stations. Usually, there are about 2 laybys in between every 2 RSAs.
Overhead restaurants - Overhead restaurants are special RSAs with restaurants above the expressway. Unlike typical laybys and RSAs which are only accessible in one-way direction only, an overhead restaurant is accessible from both directions of the expressway. Currently, there are 3 overhead bridges in Malaysia - Sungai Buloh (North-South Expressway Northern Route), Ayer Keroh (North-South Expressway Southern Route) and USJ (North-South Expressway Central Link). The PLUS Art Gallery is located in Ayer Keroh Overhead Bridge Restaurant.
Customers Service Centre - Every toll plaza in Malaysia have a customers service centre. This centre including highway maps, toll fare lists, information counters, Touch 'n Go cards reload counters, Touch 'n Go and Smart TAG sales counters and many more.
Vista point - Vista points are special parking areas that allow motorists to see scenic views of the expressway, only available at Senawang (both directions) and Ipoh (north bound only).
Motorcycle shelter - Motorcycle shelters provide protection and shelter for motorcyclists against heavy rains. Usually, most motorcycles are located below overhead bridges, but some motorcycle shelters may be special booths.

Motorcycle lane - In some parts of the whole expressway, there is an additional lane designated for motorcycles. These lanes are usually about half the width of a normal lane on the North-South expressway and are positioned on the extreme left side of the main carriageway for each direction of travel. These special lanes are found in Shah Alam Expressway, Butterworth-Kulim Expressway, Federal Highway and Guthrie Corridor Expressway
Emergency phones - Emergency phones are located every 2 km along interstate expressways, useful if there are some breakdowns on the expressway. Attendants from the nearest toll plaza will tow the broken cars to the nearest workshops.
Integrated Transport Information System - The Integrated Transport Information System is comprised of a number of traffic monitoring systems such as Traffic CCTV, Variable Message Systems (VMS) and Vehicles Breakdown Sensors. This system is normally found in the Klang Valley and Johor Bahru.
Road Transport Department Enforcement Stations - These stations can be found at Karak Expressway and East Coast Expressway. This JPJ enforcement stations have a weighing bridge for heavy vehicles.

Types of expressway interchanges in Malaysia

These are the different types of expressway interchanges in Malaysia:

Trumpet interchange - It is usually found in every closed toll system expressway like the North-South Expressway and East Coast Expressway. The trumpet design is popular as a highway exit with toll booths for the closed toll system because of the minimum construction cost of its toll booths.
Cloverleaf interchange - It is more popular in Malaysia to link two overlapping expressways because of its relatively cheaper cost. The biggest cloverleaf highway interchange in Malaysia is Bulatan Darul Ehsan a.k.a. Shah Alam Cloverleaf Interchange of Federal Highway in Shah Alam, Selangor.
Diamond interchange - It is more popular in Malaysia to join the expressway crossing over municipal roads.
Roundabout interchange - It is more popular in Malaysia
Parclo interchange - An example of this is the Port Dickson Interchange on the North-South Expressway.
Directional T interchange - These interchanges are found at Nilai North and Nilai Interchanges of North-South Expressway and also Setia Alam Interchange and Bukit Lanjan Interchange on New Klang Valley Expressway.
Stacked interchange - Examples of these are the Damansara Perdana-Penchala Interchange on the Damansara-Puchong Expressway and Penchala Link of the Sprint Expressway.
Multi-Level Stacked Roundabout - There are three-level and four-level roundabouts found in Malaysia. Examples of four-level roundabouts include the Segambut Interchange of Kuala Lumpur-Rawang Highway and Kewajipan Interchange of New Pantai Expressway.

Controversial issues

There are several controversial issues regarding the construction of expressways. The main issue is the increase of toll rates which can be a huge burden especially for residents of Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding Klang Valley conurbation.

There are also various parties who question the capability of the numerous expressways in Klang Valley to overcome traffic congestion, which does not show signs of improvement with the construction of new expressways.

Other controversial issues include the cracks found on beams on the Kepong Flyover in Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2) on 10 Aug 2004 and the flyover which collapsed on Setia Alam Interchange in New Klang Valley Expressway during construction on 10 July 2005.

Interesting facts

The longest bridge in Malaysia is Penang Bridge with a total length 13.5 km
The longest expressway in Malaysia is North-South Expressway with a total length 966 km.
The widest toll plaza in Malaysia is Sungai Besi toll plaza in North-South Expressway with over 18 lanes (excluding additional toll booths).
The North-South Expressway is the first expressway in Malaysia that provided an Overhead Bridge Restaurant (OBR).
The first highway tunnel in Malaysia is Genting Sempah Tunnel on Karak Expressway.
The first elevated expressway in Malaysia is Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Expressway (AKLEE).
The longest flyover bridge in Malaysia is Batu Tiga Flyover on North-South Expressway Central Link.
SMART Tunnel (3 km) is the longest motorway tunnel, as well as the first double-decked tunnel and the first tunnel that has a stormwater tunnel and a motorway tunnel in Malaysia.
The widest tunnel in Malaysia is Penchala Tunnel on Penchala Link of Sprint Expressway.
The first expressway with double-decked carriageway in Malaysia is Kerinchi Link on Sprint Expressway.
The biggest cloverleaf highway interchange in Malaysia is Bulatan Darul Ehsan of Federal Highway in Shah Alam, Selangor.
The largest highway interchange in Malaysia is Gelugor Complex Interchange at Penang Bridge.
The ELITE Speedway, a go-kart circuit, is near the USJ Layby on North-South Expressway Central Link.
Tapah RSA (both bound) in Perak is the first rest and service area in the Malaysian expressway to have wireless broadband internet facilities.
The PLUS Art Gallery in Ayer Keroh Overhead Bridge Restaurant (OBR) is the first highway art gallery in Malaysia.