Over 2m vehicles expected on PLUS h’ways this Raya

PLUS Malaysia expects over two million vehicles to take to its highways this Raya, reports the New Straits Times, including 2.2 million on main highways such as the North-South Highway and some 70,000 on the East Coast Expressway 2 (LPT2).

“This (total number of vehicles on the highway) is an increase of 20% compared to normal days,” COO Datuk Zakaria Ahmad Zabidi said, adding that March 27-29 (before Raya) and April 4-6 (after Raya) are the expected peak dates.

All major road works will be suspended from March 27 to April 7, with only those for emergencies allowed. Also, heavy vehicles will not be allowed to enter the highways on March 29-30 and April 5-6, said Zakaria.

He added that there will be 28 Smart Lanes (the temporary use of emergency lanes as through lanes) to improve flow in high-traffic spots, with three of them already activated since Chinese New Year.

“During Chinese New Year, road users said that it (Smart Lanes) helped improve traffic flow by increasing road capacity, reducing congestion and improving travel time,” Zakaria said, adding that 60 km/h was the recommended Smart Lane speed limit.

“Additionally, highway users are strictly prohibited from driving on the emergency lane at locations where the Smart Lane is not activated, as this could result in legal action by the authorities,” he said.

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