IPOH: Recommendations for improving safety features on the East-West Highway (JRTB), which connects Gerik in Perak and Jeli in Kelantan, include enhancing lighting, increasing warning signs, adding climbing lanes, and installing road dividers.
Mohd Amir Faizal, 47, a volunteer with the Sungai Petani Response Team, stated that comprehensive and immediate action was needed to upgrade the road, including continuous maintenance, to ensure road user safety.
According to him, based on the current condition of the road, it is appropriate for the authorities to upgrade the route due to several factors, including safety.
“It is acknowledged that the condition of the road on JRTB definitely needs to be re-upgraded because even if patched, the quality of the road patching must meet specifications; otherwise, it will become potholed again.
“We need to be aware that some road sections on JRTB have soft or subsiding ground structures. All of this needs to be taken into account so that the patched holes don’t ‘re-open’ after a few days,“ he said when contacted by Bernama today.
Mohd Amir, who has been volunteering to assist road users for three years, mentioned that the route has many hilly areas and dense forests with sharp bends, steep slopes, and fog, requiring more safety features or warning signs for users.
“Road lighting is also crucial, with lights installed at sharp bends and intersections, including the installation of road dividers, especially in steep slopes and dangerous bends, to prevent vehicles from veering off.
“Additionally, I think climbing lanes need to be added to make it easier for heavy vehicles to ascend and, at the same time, prevent drivers from dangerously overtaking,“ he said.
Mohd Amir also added that other necessary improvements along the route include information signs, such as telephone network coverage.
“Throughout my frequent trips on JRTB, what I noticed was a lack of kilometer markers along the route. For instance, if an accident occurs, users find it difficult to determine their location.
“Similarly, communication network coverage is quite low; in an emergency, one has to search for a location with coverage. Besides that, most importantly, there should be warning signs not to feed wildlife, as it will make animals, especially elephants, wait for food, leading to a risk of attack,“ he said.
He explained that the absence of warnings against feeding wild animals gives users the impression that it is permissible.
“They will stop on the roadside to place food or stop to take pictures, for example, which can endanger other road users,“ he said.
He added that regarding the frequent accidents on JRTB, he doesn’t rule out that they are also caused by the users themselves.
“Of course, as users, we want good road structures, but even with the current condition (of JRTB), many still drive fast, let alone if it were as good as the Karak Highway.
“Road safety is everyone’s responsibility, including road users themselves. The JRTB road has so many challenging bends for driving and is very popular among users who like speed,“ he said.
Yesterday, Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi announced that the accident location which claimed the lives of 15 Sultan Idris Education University (UPSI) students two days ago was among the JRTB sections identified for upgrade works this year, with an allocation of RM55 million.
He said that in June 2023, an allocation of RM30 million was approved to rebuild a section of the JRTB route, and two months later, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced an additional allocation of RM30 million for the upgrade of the route.
In 2024, a total of RM7.2 million was allocated for various repair works on several other sections of the route.
Perak Public Works Department (JKR) Director Zamri Mat Kasim added that the project to install 385 solar streetlights on JRTB, including at the accident site, has been undergoing the tender process for the past two months.
