20090213 - FRIDAY THE 13TH - HIGHWAY JAM NIGHTMARE

Most people would associate this superstitious date with realms of horror, previously made popular by the MASKED Hockey Player back in the 80s and his friends such as Mr Freddy KRUEGER.

Fortunately, in Malaysia, we don't share such a fatalistic view.

However, this morning along the Federal Highway, there was a certain Nightmare of a different kind.

This was TOTALLY EXTREME! No blood or gore, but pure TRAFFIC JAM of the highest order!

From the PJ Hilton until the Sunway turnoff, the distance is a paltry 4 km. The time taken to travel this short distance was a staggering 60 minutes, or 1 hour.
For those who have passed Form 3 maths, this means that the average speed between these 2 points is 4 KILOMETRES PER HOUR!

See enclosed map below, marked in YELLOW. (click for larger image)

That same journey, if adhering to the regulatory speed limits, would have taken no more than about 5 minutes. Thus the nightmare this morning was compounded a DOZEN times (5 x 12 = 60!)

See routing table below. (click for larger image)


I would estimate that at least about 3,000 vehicles were affected (typical car is about 4 m long multiplied by 3 lanes spread across 4 km). And that's not including the mish-mash along the LDP. Imagine the time and petrol wasted for this.

So what was the CAUSE of this entire commotion?
Believe it or not, it was due to THIS:

Yeah, the closure of the roads around Bandar Utama, made the ENTIRE LDP Choc-o-bloc until it tailed off at PJ Hilton!

So much for the Tour for Langkawians, 405km up north (by air)!
About 510km from Shah Alam, Selangor to Kuala Perlis, Perlis and then another 25 km by ferry over to the Island!

I can't see the logic of this. Why can't they cycle elsewhere, like Sungei Buluh, where there's much cleaner air quality? Or at least do it on weekends in the city areas?

Only the INTELLIGENT and WISE organisers will know the answer! I'm sure their IQ level is larger than my waistline of 40! If not, god help us!