Advantages of Elevated Hill Roads

Advantages of Elevated Hill Roads

By Timothy Tye

Penang Island is no stranger to elevated hill roads. Long before the Pan Island Link 1 (PIL 1) was announced, and long before Jalan Bukit Kukus, the government via the Public Works Department built the Balik Pulau Hill Road. It is Package 2B of a three-package public infrastructure improvement between Bayan Lepas and Balik Pulau.

Construction of this road has its share of problems. It commenced in 2005, and was expected to be completed in 2007. However the project dragged on till 2013, when the entire stretch was finally opened to the public. Through it all, local NGOs were remarkably silent about the construction of this Federal Government project, with hardly a word of opposition, even when the project was delayed for years - a silence noted by The Star, which stated in an article, "Despite the project being delayed for more than three years, there has been no public outcry ... "¹ (ref)

Once it was completed, the Balik Pulau Hill Road proves itself to be safer than the winding hill road it replaced. Total distance between Balik Pulau and Teluk Kumbar was reduced from 4.5km to just 3.3km while travel time from 25 minutes down to 15 minutes (in fact, 10 minutes is achievable).

With six viaducts, much of the distance covered by the Balik Pulau Hill Road is elevated. This in itself provides a few advantages. Being an elevated road that is away from the hill slope, the road reduces direct contact between passing vehicles and the forest. With the only contact between the road and the forest being the footprints of its piers, impact to the forest is minimal. Once construction was completed, nature redeemed any exposed land, which was gradually reforested. In similar fashion, the former winding road could now be reclaimed back by nature.

If there should be a landslide, the Balik Pulau Hill Road remains unaffected. From the moment the road was completed in 2013 until today (2018), there has been no report of any vehicle flying off the viaducts (nor off the two Bayan Lepas elevated roads). Even if this should happen one day, it would be a one-off freak accident.

The Balik Pulau Hill Road taught us that elevated hill roads are largely safe and any fear of such roads is deliberately exaggerated. Also, it shows us that our local NGOs have a tendency for selective persecution. If they could boisterously oppose the PIL 1 and Jalan Bukit Kukus viaducts, why didn't they do the same against the Balik Pulau Hill Road?

The completion of the Balik Pulau Hill Road has brought about an improvement in the quality of life for the people it serves, in this case, those living on the west coast of Penang Island. The same holds true with Jalan Bukit Kukus, the North Coast Pair Road and PIL 1, for their respective users, when these are also completed.

References