Thursday 22 January 2009

Penang Bridge third lane may be partially opened

Since the beginning of this week, I've been noticing that the Butterworth end of the Penang Bridge expansion project was undergoing some significant changes: a short stretch of the road was being tarred.

And when I was whizzing home yesterday, I saw that motorists were already being allowed to drive on the third lane during the final half kilometre or so of the bridge. That's good news.

I'm only hoping that by tomorrow, the Penang Bridge authorities will do more by opening the third lane after the toll plaza. If they can allow motorists to drive on part of the third lane, it will definitely improve on the traffic flow at the bottleneck and give users a very welcomed Chinese New Year present!

UPDATE: Well, driving over the Penang Bridge this Friday morning at 6.30am, I see that there is potential for the stretch between the toll plaza and the 1.0KM mark to be opened. Only question is, when?? Anyway, the bridge authorities had reduced some long stretches of the bridge, particularly from the 5.0KM mark to the 7.2KM mark, from double lanes to a single lane this morning. Unless they remove the barriers soon, it'll be anyone's guess how much this will inconvenience motorists and contribute to this morning's jam.

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