IF IT WEREN’T FOR THE NSE…
by Lim Lay Ying
Property Times, New Straits Times
18th September 2004

What would life traveling across the peninsular today be like, if the North-South Expressway (NSE) had not been built? We would be spending more time and driving longer distances on the trunk roads from one destination to another – that’s without a doubt.

It would be a good fifteen hours behind the wheels between Johor Baru in the south and Bukit Kayu Hitam at the northern tip. A 208 km journey from Kuala Lumpur to Ipoh would require at least six hours. Add to this would be a huge dose of frustration to be swallowed too!

That’s not all. When it’s the “balik kampung” rush for Hari Raya Aidil-fitri, Chinese New Year, or for that matter, any festivities or major public holidays tiding over long weekends, the situation on the roads could be a tad too much to bear.

And there wouldn’t be the convenient rest stops (to relieve ourselves especially) or the vast range of food and beverage outlets to feast on, for instance. Truck drivers whose jobs require them to be on those roads almost daily, would take days to complete their tasks.

But that was life before February 1994.

Traveling is now a breeze

Since then (the North-South Expressway was officially opened to road-users by the then Prime Minister, YAB Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on September 8, 1994), Johor Bahru-Bukit Kayu Hitam can be accomplished in just over seven hours by car (at an average speed of 110 km). Besides saving eight hours on the road when compared to the old Federal Route I, there is also 107 km less in traveling distance. Driving between Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh now is a breeze – just a mere 2½ hours!

The 847.7 km four-lane dual carriageway (with provision for another two lanes later) superhighway which was completed fifteen months ahead of schedule, begins at Bukit Kayu Hitam at the northern border of the peninsular and ends at Johor Bharu in the south. It traverses the paddy fields in Kedah, rolling over the hills and mountains that border the Main Range in the central region, and straddles the peat swamps of the southern part between Yong Peng and Skudai.

More significantly, the North-South Expressway links all the major cities on the west coast between Thailand and Singapore, and includes the North Klang Valley Expressway and Federal Highway Route 2. It has spawned several other major highways such as the North-South Expressway Central Link (NSECL) and the Malaysia-Singapore Second Crossing (MSSC), and in the process, enhancing access into the peninsular via the major ports of call.

There are eighteen rest and service areas (RSA) located at intervals of 50 to 100 kilometres and they are equipped with facilities like food stalls, washrooms, phone booths, and car parking lay-bys. Some of the larger rest stops offer souvenir shops and farm produce while a few are designated vista points for travellers to appreciate the scenic landscape.

Major impact on development

The NSE’s impact on the development industry has been a major one – far in excess of the expectations of the community. The last official count of foreign tourists who used the highway – from both ends, that is Thailand and Singapore, was over a million strong (Business Times July 25, 2002).

Of this total, 23.4 per cent – or 237,999 in absolute number, comprised the Thais whose main entry point was from Bukit Kayu Hitam. This reflected a hundred per cent jump over the previous year’s tally of 121,783. In the south, Singapore tourists have the option of either using Johore Baru Causeway or the Second Link. About 70 to 80 per cent of those from Singapore have been estimated to enter the country via these routes (in the first half of this year, more than 4.8million Singapore nationals visited Malaysia).

Encouraged by the convenience and improved accessibility to major urban centres and tourism destinations in the country, the numbers have been rising – and these include vehicles crossing entry points at both Singapore and Thailand. New tourist sites flanking the expressway have since emerged – Bukit Merah Lake Town Resort in Perak, Ayer Keroh Resort and A’Famosa in Malacca, and Leisure Farm Golf and Country Resort in Johore, for example.

Spawning new developments

The catalytic effect of the NSE resulting in new townships and industrial zones throughout the peninsular is obvious and more are emerging even along those highways which are linked to it, such as the ELITE Expressway, the SILK Highway, and the Butterworth-Kulim East-West Highway.

In the Klang Valley for instance, Bandar Seri Putra in Bangi by UM Land Bhd and the neighbouring Bandar Bukit Mahkota by Araprop Development Sdn Bhd (Lion Group) have benefited from their immediate proximity to the highway as well as their strategic locations at the exit point. The convenience factor owing to the NSE was a strong selling point for these new townships which otherwise, would have been considered too far away from Kuala Lumpur.

And it is not the “end of the road” as far as the benefits from the NSE have been. The expressway which has changed the lives of every Malaysian will continue to shape development patterns for a long time to come.