LABUAN, Feb 1 — The 5.7km-long bumper-to-bumper traffic from Jalan Pohon Batu towards the town centre here is set to be a thing of the past, thanks to the completion of the RM125 million coastal road project.

The 5.1km coastal road project from Kerupang to Membedai was opened today (February 1) following its gazettement at the end of January.

Labuan Public Works Department (JKR) director Suhaizad Sulaiman said the road would improve Labuan’s connectivity, as well as ease traffic congestion along Jalan Pohon Batu and Jalan Tun Mustapha to the town centre.

Suhaizad said the project, which commenced on December 19, 2017, under the 11th Malaysia Plan, would benefit at least 35 per cent of road users on the duty-free island, such as those in Kg Tanjung Aru, Nagalang and Kerupang 1, 2 and 3.

"The bumper-to-bumper traffic of over 5km has frustrated drivers using the Jalan Pohon Batu and Jalan Tun Mustapha routes to the town centre.

"There had been talks about some parents not being able to make it to the office on time, and often sent their school-going children late to school and kindergartens due to the heavy traffic congestion in the early morning, and now that the project is completed, we hope it will be a great help to them,” he told Bernama today.

Suhaizad said the government understood that the traffic congestion was only likely to get worse as the growing population and rising income pushed the already-straining transport networks to the limit.

A civil servant, Ramlen Salleh, 50 said the project’s completion showed the government’s commitment to resolving the traffic congestion issue that had worsened over the past 15 years.

"Motorists have been enduring 5km traffic jams for many years, especially during rush hours in the morning and around 5pm to 6pm..we must thank the PWD’s officials for expediting the completion of the project,” he said.

Another motorist, Jainudin Djimin, 60, said: The roads here suffer from jams in the evening, and it is worse when it rains. The existing traffic after work hours is a great concern to all of us, so thank you to the government for the improvement of roads in Labuan. — Bernama