No to link road: Residents who gathered at the dead-end side of Jalan 10/7 where the road link has been proposed.
AFTER taking account the views of Section 10 residents, the Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MBPJ) has decided not to go ahead with plans to create a new route by extending Jalan 10/7, which now ends in a dead-end bordering Taman Jaya, and link it to Jalan 10/1 off Jalan Gasing
MBPJ public relations officer Zainun Zakaria assured members of Section 10 Residents Association (S10RA) that the road link had been scrapped.
A pedestrian path will be built, instead, she said.
“Other than pedestrians, people on bicycles will be allowed to use the path,” she added.
Section 10 residents had voiced their dissatisfaction with MBPJ over the plan to link the two roads.
MBPJ’s Engineering Department had approved the plan for the connecting road that will pass through a strip of land underneath Tenaga Nasional Bhd transmission lines running parallel with Jalan 10/6A and Jalan 10/6.
Contractors who had secured the tender were waiting for TNB’s approval.
Most of the residents living in Jalan 10/7, Jalan 10/14, Jalan 10/14A and Jalan 10/12 are against the plan to link the two roads as they say this would drastically increase the traffic near their homes.
Currently, part of the land closer to Jalan 10/1 under the TNB transmission lines has been converted into a free carpark with 130 bays. MBPJ plans to construct another 210 parking bays with the road link.
The Section 10 Residents Association (S10RA) is against the road link.
Resident Datin Arul Sothy Puvanarajah, 82, who has been living in the area since 1965, said the idea to connect Jalan 10/7 from Jalan 10/1 must be scrapped as it would worsen traffic.
“Common sense must prevail as Jalan 10/7 is a narrow two-lane residential road. About 38 bungalow lots dot the area that is accessible via Jalan 10/7 from Jalan Gasing. Even families coming to Taman Jaya recreational park use the same road. If the road link goes ahead, it will cause congestion,” she added.
She said the current traffic volume was high and the road link would create chaos.
Leslie Lim, 64, who lives in Jalan 10/14, is against the road link as he said it would create noise and air pollution and create traffic congestion in a tranquil neighbourhood.
“Having a road link into Jalan 10/7 would bring in traffic from both sides of Jalan Gasing into Section 10, one of Petaling Jaya’s oldest neighbourhoods,” he added.
Zaitul Kushairi, 58, who gathered at Taman Jaya with her neighbours, said MBPJ cannot just build road links into a neighbourhood without consulting residents who are stakeholders of the city.
“Constructing a road link will bring in more cars and this goes against MBPJ’s commitment to reduce its carbon footprint. We are not against the additional parking bays but that also must be controlled. We can’t have parking bays right up to the border of Jalan 10/7. A green landscape buffer is needed,” she said.
Another resident Y.N. Chin said it was not wise to have the road link as people’s safety would be compromised.
“What I call quiet times in the evenings and at weekends will be no more. Parents will be worried to allow their children to walk alone as there will be more vehicles on the road. This would pose a danger to senior citizens going for evening walks,” he added.
Meera Vijendra a resident living in Jalan 10/12 said the road link would not make any sense and “it’s best to leave it as it is”.
Yvonne Au-Yong, 57, said channelling traffic into Section 10 would create inconvenience as the residential roads were never meant to take high volumes of traffic.
S10RA president Ronald Danker said MBPJ must not go ahead with the project as it would be a disaster.
“Once the road link is built it will give alternative access to outsiders to come into Section 10 and it might cause a rise in snatch thefts or even house break-ins.
“All matters regarding the additional parking bays, road link into Jalan 10/7 and even the re-routing of traffic from Jalan Gasing into Jalan 10/1 to exit Jalan 10/5 next to the St. Francis Xavier Church must be discussed with S10RA with full details and artist’s impressions before implementation,” he added.
