KUCHING: The flyover at 4 and 1/2 Mile here is expected to complete by this coming December.
Chairman of Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) Lo Khere Chiang paid a visit to the flyover to check on the progress Tuesday (August 4).
Lo said that that the 400 metre-flyover located at 4 1/2 Mile could solve the problematic traffic congestion in the area.
“As this flyover is ready to be open for the public by the end of the year, it is hoped that it could solve the traffic jam problems in the area, especially during peak hours.
“It is estimated 80,000 road users using this road daily,” he told reporters after a visit to the construction site of the flyover on Tuesday (August 4).
The flyover is one of the four flyover projects in Kuching – Serian Road (KSR) Interchanges package, costing around RM2.1 billion.
The package – with roads from Lundu, Sematan and up to Mile 10 – is among the packages apart in Pan Borneo Highway which also includes roads, bridges, culverts and others.
“The other three flyovers are located at 6th Mile, 7th Mile and 10th Mile and the remaining three flyovers are expected to be completed in stages, hopefully around June by 2021,” he told.
Lo, who is also Batu Kitang assemblyman, stated the flyover projects were halted during the beginning of movement control order (MCO) due to the contractors’ workers being foreigners who had to be sent home due to the pandemic.
“The flyover project has faced a delay for nearly about a year now. However, during the MCO period, the contractors were given 84 days extension – which is a reasonable extension timeline.
“I hope the public to stay patient and hope that these flyovers will be completed soon,” he stated.
Kuching South Regional Engineer of Public Works Department (JKR) Kenneth Kho, told that the flyover projects started in the middle 2017, and was supposed to be completed October 31 this year.
“All flyover projects are under package dated November 1 in 2016 under Kuching-Serian Road, and we have been given the extension period to October 21, 2021 for the completion of these four flyovers,” he explained.
Additionally, the physical overall progress of the four flyovers is around 56 percent.
