GEORGE TOWN, Oct 13 — Several roads around George Town and the Penang Bridge from the island side will be closed in stages this Sunday in conjunction with Stage 6 of the Le Tour De Langkawi (LTdL) cycling tour which starts from Penang island.

North East District police chief ACP Soffian Santong said the stage of the LTdL from Penang to Alor Setar in Kedah over 120.4km will start at Padang Kota Lama here at 8am on Sunday.

"Accordingly, to ensure smooth running of the tour, there are several main routes from the starting site of Padang Kota Lama towards the Penang Bridge which are to be closed in stages, namely Jalan Padang Kota Lama from 12.01am (Saturday) to noon on Sunday.

"The vicinity of Jalan Padang Kota Lama will be closed earlier to allow the vehicles involved in the LTdL stage to prepare for departure at 8am on Sunday while Jalan Syed Barakbah will be closed from 12.01am (Saturday) until 11am on Sunday,” he said at a press conference here today.

He said Lebuh Light, Jalan Pengkalan Weld and Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway will be closed from 8am until the stage is over at about 11am.

Soffian said there will be a complete closure to vehicles from entering the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway heading towards the Penang Bridge, which involves several intersections such as the Gat Lebuh Perangin, Gat Lebuh Magazine, Lebuh Maccalum and Lebuh Cecil, with all traffic to be diverted towards the city centre only.

He said vehicles from the direction of Sungai Pinang will be diverted to the city centre and towards Persiaran Karpal Singh only, while the route to enter the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway towards Penang Bridge will be fully closed.

"Vehicles going towards Jalan Ahmad Nor (Jelutong) and Jalan Tengku Kudin will be diverted to the city centre only while traffic from the Gelugor roundabout towards Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah, the entrance from Jalan Pantai Sinaran to the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway will be completely closed to all types of vehicles,” he said.

He said entrance to the Penang Bridge from the city centre and Bayan Lepas will be completely closed to all vehicles from 9am until the end because the LTdL racers would be using the bridge route.

According to him, the public is advised to use alternative routes such as Jalan Jelutong and Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah to avoid traffic congestion and those who want to cross over from the island to the mainland can use the Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah Bridge.

"Road users are advised to give full cooperation and obey instructions issued by the authorities in charge to ensure the smooth running of the LTdL programme,” he said, adding that a total of 147 police officers and personnel will be assisted by the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) and the Malaysian Volunteers Corps Department. — Bernama