Some 69 million people use the Causeway every year, and the traffic is choking Johor Baru. A transportation planning and traffic management consultant warned today that if the problem was not immediately attended to, the future growth of the city would be affected.Dr Tai Tuck Leong said the number of people using the Causeway exceeded those passing through the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and Changi Airport combined.This is one reason why a new bridge is needed to replace the Causeway.Tai, who undertook a traffic management study of Johor Baru, said the Causeway could well be one of the busiest crossings in the world. The study was commissioned by Gerbang Perdana, the contractor building the RM2.5 billion Southern Integrated Gateway (SIG) project, encompassing a bridge, a new Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex, JB Sentral (public transport terminal) and ancillary facilities.Tai told the New Straits Times: "The annual throughput at the KLIA is 20 million persons, while Changi receives 30 million. But the Causeway beats them all with 69 million."Tai, who is managing director of Perunding Trafik Klasik Sdn Bhd, said the Causeway, built in 1924, did not have the capacity to handle the massive growth in traffic in the 82 years since then.On a typical 16-hour weekday, he noted, more than 114,000 vehicles use the Causeway, with motorcyclists topping the list with 71,772."Cars come next, with nearly 33,500. But nearly 75 per cent of these are foreign-registered cars, namely Singaporean."Tai said with virtually all the Causeway traffic now entering the central business district (CBD) here, the city was choking with vehicles and congestion."The only way out of this gridlock is to build an integrated new bridge and CIQ complex to divert traffic away from the CBD," he said, adding that work on the bridge had to commence immediately as the traffic volume in the city was growing by about seven per cent a year."Traffic from Singapore may then be dispersed directly from the new CIQ via the Inner Ring Road, without having to enter town."Consequently, major roads in the CBD like Jalan Tun Abdul Razak, Jalan Wong Ah Fook and Jalan Air Molek will experience a substantial relief in traffic volume."Tai said the traffic woes were being compounded by vehicles coming off the North-South Expressway (NSE), which ends at Kempas, about 8km short of the city centre.This has exacerbated the situation here, with NSE traffic forced to use city roads to make up for the "missing link" in the expressway.For this reason, the Government has decided to build an Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL), which will carry all traffic from the new CIQ direct to the NSE to relieve inner-city traffic.As the EDL will run almost parallel to Jalan Tebrau, it will also provide substantial relief for the congested Jalan Tebrau residential corridor.Tai said with the new multiple traffic management system under the SIG development, Johor Baru would have one of the most efficient traffic dispersal systems in the country."Now we are the backyard of Singapore, with the traffic choking our arterial roads and congesting the city centre."With the breaking of the Causeway to make way for the new bridge, we will create a new frontage for Johor Baru along the waterfront."The elevated bridge with a draught of 25 metres will allow ships of up to 4,000 tonnes to use the waterway, including yachts, pleasure craft and even minesweepers.Tai said the present traffic split between the Causeway and the 2nd Link was 9:1."The Causeway is still more appealing to motorists because it offers a direct link to the greater JB metropolitan area. The 2nd Link, on the contrary, only appeals to those on long-distance travel to the north."He noted that only slightly over 20 per cent of all traffic on the Causeway now was northbound. "The bulk heads direct to JB for business, shopping, entertainment or for social visits," he said.
