Jalan Utama (Western Road), George Town

Western Road, George Town, Penang (11 December 2012)


Western Road, or Jalan Utama as it is called today, is a major road on the western part of George Town, Penang. It was probably given the name Western Road because it once marked the western limit of George Town.

Roads branching off from Western Road include, from east to west, Gaol Road, Nambyar Street, Ross Road, Residency Road, Scotland Road, Sepoy Lines Road, Lim Mah Chye Road, Brooke Road, Macalister Road, Western Close, Western Gardens, Nunn Road, Western Avenue, Quarry Drive, Brown Road, Western Crescent and Gottlieb Road.

Map of Jalan Utama (Western Road), Penang

Hotels along Western Road

Sights along Western Road

Eateries on Western Road

Clinics and Healthcare on Western Road

Businesses on Western Road

Residential Properties on Western Road

Western Road, near the Macalister Road junction (11 December 2012)


The section of Western Road from its junction with Residency Road, to its junction with Gottlieb Road is a major road that forms part of the western ring road of George Town. The section from Residency Road to Dato Kramat Road, once a major road towards the waterfalls, is today a secondary road.

Western Road, with view of the Polo Ground (29 January 2005)


Western Road became the choice residence of the Europeans in George Town towards the turn of the 20th century, as they relocated from their residences along Northam Road - which was then being taken over by wealthy Chinese tycoons who were turning it into a millionnaire's row. Europeans made Western Road a road for, well, westerners. Many of them were Freemasons, and thus it was no coincidence that the Penang Masonic Temple was built along Western Road.

Overcrowding at the Protestant Cemetery along Northam Road also meant that the "newly departed" towards the end of the 19th century also had to be located out of Northam Road and into Western Road, resulting in the creation of the Western Road Cemetery.

Tall trees planted over a hundred years ago line Western Road (11 December 2012)


Today Western Road is one of the major roads in George Town. It serves as a bypass for traffic flowing between the southern part of the island to the north, without entering the city centre. Despite its role, it is essentially a leafy residential thoroughfare lined with opulent bungalows.

As with many of the major roads in George Town, Western Road has a complicated traffic flow. From Residency Road to Dato Kramat Road, traffic is one way heading east towards Dato Kramat Road. From Residency Road to Scotland Road, it is one way heading west towards Scotland Road. From Scotland Road to Macalister Road, it is also one way heading west, but without a flow-through from the earlier section. From Macalister Road to Gottlieb Road, traffic is two ways.

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Getting there

Rapid Penang Bus 304 pass through Western Road.

The eastern end of Jalan Utama (Western Road), near the Penang General Hospital (5 February 2013)

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

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