KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — After six years, the new 20.1km Damansara-Shah Alam Elevated Expressway (DASH) connecting Puncak Perdana to Penchala in the Klang Valley officially opened today.

The highway will be free of charge for the public from October 14, 2022 at 12.01am until November 30, 2022.

"I feel so proud when I see high-impact projects like DASH become a reality. This is because they are set to benefit Keluarga Malaysia.

"DASH is one of 53 high-impact projects in the government’s economic transformation programme, which offers 12,000 job opportunities,” caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said during its launch at Denai Alam Toll Plaza in Shah Alam this morning.

The RM4.2 billion highway would serve as a link between eastern and western townships in Klang Valley, connecting several highways networks such as Guthrie Corridor Expressway (GCE), Damansara-Puchong Expressway (LDP), Penchala Link, and SPRINT Expressway.

The highway is expected to have an average of 50,000 daily road users and cut the 90 minutes commute from Puncak Perdana to Penchala to 30 minutes.

It is also expected to relieve traffic along Persiaran Mokhtar Dahari by 39 per cent, Jalan Sungai Buloh by 33 per cent and Persiaran Surian by 43 per cent.

The highway will see three toll plazas: Denai Alam, RRIM (Kwasa Damansara) and Kota Damansara, with two rest stops at Denai Alam.

It is also equipped with 37 closed-circuit cameras (CCTV), 18 emergency telephones, 30 vehicle incident detection systems (VIDS) and 10 variable message signs (VMS) along the alignment as well as 2,441 light-emitting diode (LED) street lights.

The highway's toll plaza operation buildings are also equipped with solar panels, rainwater harvesting and green turf roofs.

The total concession period for DASH will last for 55 years from December 25, 2014 to December 24, 2069.

This is the second highway opened by Projek Lintasan Kota Holdings (Prolintas) within two months, after the launch of the Sungai Besi-Ulu Klang Elevated Expressway (SUKE) last month.