New KL high-rises fuel fears of worsening congestion

The Star

6 days ago

Taman Intan Baiduri residents gathered in front of the site (left) of the proposed high-rise housing project along Jalan Intan Baiduri 5D.— RAJA FAISAL HISHAN/The Star
Residents of Taman Intan Baiduri want Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to make it a requirement that new developments have direct access to Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2).
They are objecting to a 32-storey housing development in their area, citing fears of severe traffic congestion and lack of supporting infrastructure.
The development, comprising 192 units under Federal Government's Public Housing for Civil Servants (PPAM) programme, is planned along Jalan Intan Baiduri 5D, a narrow access road that already serves several housing areas and three schools.
'This area is already under heavy strain,' said community activist Yee Poh Ping in a press conference at the site with some 30 residents.
'We are not against development. But there must be proper planning.
'We cannot keep building without traffic dispersal plans or alternative access routes.'
The proposed site sits less than 100m from SK Intan Baiduri, SK St Mary and SMK St Mary.
The stretch experiences daily bottlenecks during school hours, with residents reporting that it can take up to one hour to reach Kepong via MRR2.
Yee said the congestion stemmed from the area's layout which only has two main exit points, both leading to already saturated roads heading towards Selayang, Kepong and Batu Caves.
The situation is expected to worsen with the addition of two other high-density projects nearby – Rumah Belia Madani (1,048 units) and a private development with 558 condominium units and 239 low-cost units.
A resident identified only as Low, who has lived in the neighbourhood for 30 years, said the roads were never designed to support such density.
'This access road to our homes and schools is being used by residents in nearby neighbourhoods.
'A high-rise here will overwhelm the system.
'We're already seeing spillover parking and daily jams,' Low added.
Another resident who only wanted to be identified as Wong said, 'If they must build, then they need to build an access road that exits directly to MRR2.'
She also questioned how a 32-storey building could be proposed on what she said was just 0.4ha of land.
'What is the plot ratio? We have the right to know,' she said, pointing to lack of information on a notice board at the site.
Resident Sharifah Fairuz urged DBKL to prioritise proper traffic planning.
'Young people need affordable homes, yes, but not at the cost of others' quality of life,' she said.
'Hold a public hearing and engage with us before finalising anything.'
Yee said the root problem was that the stretch of MRR2 near Taman Intan Baiduri lacked proper U-turn access points.
He proposed DBKL and Gombak Public Works Depart­­ment to build two new U-turn interchanges along the stretch from Taman Daya to the Batu Caves roundabout.
Yee said a protest letter has been submitted to DBKL, calling for a public hearing and engagement with stakeholders.