GUA MUSANG, April 6 — Traffic at the main entry routes to Kelantan is beginning to build up, with a non-stop flow of vehicles since last night as many head back to their hometowns for the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration.

A survey up to noon at the Gua Musang-Kuala Krai and Gua Musang-Kuala Lipis routes found the number of vehicles heading in both directions increasing, but traffic flow is still smooth.

Twenty-six-year-old motorcyclist Muhd Firdaus Mamat, who works in a private IT company, said his ride from Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur to Pasir Puteh was quite smooth, although there are several accident-prone locations in Bentong.

"We left at 6 this morning and up to Gua Musang, several places were congested, including at the Gombak toll plaza to the Karak Highway and the worst congestion occurred in Bentong, Pahang because of several accidents there.

"In addition, there was also congestion at the exit from the Lingkaran Tengah Utama (LTU) Expressway from Merapoh, Pahang until Kampung Mentara, Gua Musang due to a bottleneck as motorists had to switch from two lanes to one,” he said when met by reporters at Masjid Buluh here today.

Grab driver Mohd Arifuddin Mohamad Zaidi, 25, said he had planned his drive home with his family a week earlier to avoid traffic congestion.

"Today, we followed our plan to return to Kota Baru by leaving at 4.30am from Kuala Lumpur and reaching Gua Musang at 10.30am and we also identified the congestion-prone areas involving hilly terrains and ‘bottleneck’ roads.

"I want to advise travellers planning to return to their hometowns to use the Google Maps application to pass through roads that are not congested as it will help them save about an hour compared to taking the usual routes,” he said.

Meanwhile, Gua Musang police chief Supt Sik Choon Foo confirmed that there has been an increased number of vehicles since yesterday and expects the situation to remain such until the eve of Hari Raya.

He said the affected routes are the Gua Musang-Kuala Lipis, Gua Musang-Kuala Krai and Gua Musang-Jeli roads. — Bernama