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Persiaran Mahsuri Traffic Island (10 November 2012)
Persiaran Mahsuri Traffic Island is a short-lived traffic island created along Persiaran Mahsuri between Sungai Nibong Kecil and Bayan Baru, Penang. Its intention was to enable traffic from Jalan Tun Dr Awang to have uninterrupted drive to Persiaran Mahsuri. However the decision failed to take into account the need of residents of the Pesara Mahsuri area, namely those living in Taman Melati Jaya and Sri Murni Apartment, who found that their access from Bayan Baru is severed.
Residents of Pesara Mahsuri sent an email on 1 November 2012 to the Honourable Sim Tze Tzin, State Assemblyman of Pantai Jerejak highlighting the issue. When no response was received, some of the residents tried to call his service centre but the phone went unanswered. Eventually one of them visited the service centre and managed to get highlight the issue. By then, the press have also been notified, and the state opposition party also joined in.
The Persiaran Mahsuri Traffic Island prevents residents of Pesara Mahsuri from driving home (10 November 2012)Meanwhile residents also wrote an email to the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP), on 9 November, and received a reply on the same day saying that the construction of the said traffic island was under the Public Works Department (JKR) and that JKR has been notified.
At 11:00 am on the morning of 10 November, 2012, residents of Pesara Mahsuri held a protest at the traffic island. It was an unusual show of unity as Malays, Chinese and Indians came out of their houses to protest the traffic island. The issue was covered by a number of newspapers as well as television stations. Representatives from the state opposition party was also present, but nobody from the state ruling party was available.
Mr Sim finally arrived on the scene at 2:30 pm. He apologized for not responding to the email, first saying that it must not have been sent to the right email address, but when told that it was the same email address he had used to respond to other issues, he said that he had been occupied daily with state assembly sessions for the past week, and hence has not been able to read his emails. Nonetheless Mr Sim assured residents that the issue has received his attention and that the traffic island would be dismantled. In its place, the JKR engineers will present to the residents two or three options. A subsequent meeting will take place near the now infamous traffic island at 5:30 pm on Saturday, 17 November, so that residents can choose the design of their choice.
View Persiaran Mahsuri Traffic Island in a larger map
The Honourable Sim Tze Tsin, State Assemblyman of Pantai Jerejak, speaking to residents of Pesara Mahsuri (10 November 2012)
Workers dismantling the newly-completed Persiaran Mahsuri Traffic island (10 November 2012)© Timothy Tye using this photo
Updates
2 December 2012 The Persiaran Mahsuri Roundabout, replacing the traffic island, has finally taken shape.News Report
Update
17 November, 2012: The Honourable Sim Tze Tzin, State Assemblyman for Pantai Jerejak, held a Meet-the-People session with the residents of Taman Melati Jaya. It was attended by about sixty residents of the neighbourhood. During the session, which was also in the presence of a Councillor of the Penang Island Municipal Council as well as representatives of the Public Works Department (JKR) and developer SP Setia, Mr Sim unveiled two options as replacement of the infamous traffic island. Option One involves creating a T-junction while Option Two a roundabout.
Mr Sim chairing the meet-the-people session at Taman Melati Jaya (17 November 2012)
Remains of Persiaran Mahsuri Traffic Island (17 November 2012)
Mr Sim showing attendees proposed amendments to the junction (17 November 2012)
Option 2 (roundabout), chosen by residents attending the session (17 November 2012)
Residents giving a show of hands over the proposed roundabout (17 November 2012)Residents in attendance unanimously chose the second option, it is allows greater flexibility for traffic from all three directions. According to Mr Sim, work on the roundabout can be completed within one and a half weeks. In addition to the roundabout issue, he also listened to resident grouses over other related issues.
One of the issues raised was the traffic lights between Jalan Tun Dr Awang and Persiaran Bukit Jambul. Residents proposed stopping traffic along Jalan Tun Dr Awang when the lights are green for traffic coming out of Persiaran Bukit Jambul. As this may heighten traffic congestion on Jalan Tun Dr Awang, Mr Sim promised to work closely with MPPP on whether such as idea is feasible.
All in all, I can say that residents of Taman Melati Jaya were satisfied with the action taken by their state assemblyman over the traffic island matter, and had a group photo taken with Mr Sim after the session. Although we were initially upset over the non-response, we were happy to put that in the past.
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