Teluk Kumbar-Bayan Lepas Junction in Penang

Queue on Jalan Teluk Kumbar (29 November 2014)


Due to the rapid development on the southern part of Penang Island, the country road encircling the island has seen a huge rise in the amount of traffic. It is not surprising therefore to find bottlenecks building up at specific intersections which can no longer cope with the rise in vehicular traffic.

One of the worst bottlenecks on Penang Island is at the where Jalan Teluk Kumbar and Jalan Bayan Lepas meets Jalan Permatang Damar Laut. The slow flow of traffic moving across this junction causes massive jams, with queues of traffic particularly along Jalan Teluk Kumbar, a winding hill road. In early 2015, it is not unusual to take 45 minutes to cross this intersection.

In response to this pressing issue, plans are afoot to build an elevated highway linking Jalan Bayan Lepas to Jalan Teluk Kumbar. However it will be a few years before the elevated highway is completed. In the interim, a new flow is put in place to disperse the traffic.

New Dispersal System for Jalan Teluk Kumbar and Jalan Bayan Lepas

The Teluk Kumbar - Bayan Lepas intersection is shown here as Point X.

Vehicles coming from Bayan Lepas heading for Permatang Damar Laut has uninterrupted flow going from Point A to Point B.

Vehicles coming from Bayan Lepas heading for Teluk Kumbar still has to pass through the traffic light, going from Point A through Point X to Point C.

Vehicles from Teluk Kumbar heading to Bayan Lepas and George Town has uninterrupted flow going from Point C to Point D. Those heading to Bayan Lepas town centre now has to make a circle through Point D to E, F and back to A. Those heading from Teluk Kumbar to Permatang Damar Laut similarly follow this course, from Point C to D, E, F, A and then continue to B.

List of Roundabouts in Penang and Roundabouts in Malaysia