3 months to demolish toll plazas at Sungai Rasau, Batu Tiga

PETALING JAYA: The Sungai Rasau and Batu Tiga toll plazas which have served as the gateway into Selangor for 25 years, will be demolished in a month's time.
The two tolls – along with another one in Kedah and Johor – have raised their gates permanently at the stroke of midnight on Jan 1.
Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) director-general Datuk Ismail Md Salleh said the work to tear down structures at both plazas will commence within a month and is expected to be completed within three months.
"We will start to do the demolition work slowly. We have to take into consideration traffic in both areas.
"Road diversions need to be made to accommodate the work on site. We expect everything to be cleared after three months," he told theSun.
The abolition of collection at both tolls was made pursuant to an announcement from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak during the tabling of Budget 2018 last year.
Apart from Sungai Rasau and Batu Tiga, Najib also announced that toll collection in Bukit Kayu Hitam in Kedah and the Eastern Dispersal Link in Johor will be discontinued.
Ismail said only the administration building will be spared from the demolition – with its fate dependent on what the government decides.
The width of the road – which previously had to accommodate the toll booths – will remain unchanged, he added.
Asked whether the demolition of the toll plazas there would ease up traffic, especially during rush hour, Ismail responded negatively.
"There might be more traffic upstream, in areas such as Petaling Jaya and Sungai Way. Previously, the toll booths acted as a 'barrier' to the traffic.
"With the demolition of the toll structures, the traffic will become even more intense and might cause more congestion in other areas," he added.
Ismail said around 150,000 vehicles passed through the Batu Tiga toll plaza daily, and another 122,000 vehicles in Sungai Rasau.