| Cheras' Morning "Very Rush" Hour Traffic |
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They are back, they are all back.  The traffic is back to normal, which means bumper-to-bumper agonizingly slow crawl from the toll plaza on Connaught Highway (East-West Link), all the way to Damansara Heights. 
Hey Sami Vellu, I'm not in the hobby of paying tolls to get stucked in traffic congestions you know? Neh-hi! Itu kepala dengan lambut palsu tu pigi pakai sikit lah (ala-Samy's broken Malay language)! 
But all its not lost, there are some good news for all the fellow Cheras-ians out there.
Three Bridges along Jalan Cheras
The road system and traffic conditions in Cheras have undergone a lot
of improvement last year, particularly following the completion of
three bridges on Jalan Cheras (the stretch between Billion roundabout and Phoenix Plaza).
The new bridges, work on which started from April 2004, are near Taman
Segar, Taman Taynton and Taman Connaught. They were all completed at
the end of 2006.
Traffic flow along Jalan Cheras is much smoother now without traffic
lights, even though motorists are taking some time to get used to the
new bridge system built by MTD Construction Sdn Bhd.
Bridge No.1 measuring about 130m is for motorists from Kajang and surrounding areas to enter Taman Segar.
* Bridge No.1 is for motorists from Kajang and its surrounding areas to enter Taman Segar.
Bridge No.2 is for traffic from Taman Segar to enter Jalan Cheras (KL-bound).
* Bridge No.2 is for traffic from Taman Segar to enter Jalan Cheras (KL-bound).
And Bridge No.3 enables motorists from KL to access Taman Taynton while serving as a U-Turn as well.
* Bridge No.3 enables motorists from KL to access Taman Taynton while serving as a U-Turn.
Motorists used to wait for about 10 to 15 minutes at the traffic light
before the bridges were up. The removal of traffic lights has made the stretch's traffic flow much better.
The facelift is ongoing as more projects are expected to be carried out this year.
Billion Roundabout (MRR2-Jalan Cheras Interchange)
However, as this part of Jalan Cheras becomes smooth flowing,
traffic will come
to a bottleneck at the Taman Billion roundabout if they are heading
towards Middle Ring Road 2.
Apparently the government is planning (or
considering?) of constructing a flyover or underpass from Jalan Cheras
to Middle Ring Road 2 to
alleviate congestion at this roundabout that has become more
acute following the completion of those three bridges mentioned
earlier.
But don't get too excited already y'all, it will only be
completed around 2010. 
Broader Jalan Loke Yew
Jalan Loke Yew is being widened from four to six lanes. The work, together with the construction of a sound-barrier wall for
Taman Miharja residents, are scheduled to complete in July (hmmm...maybe I can send my sister to this station next time, instead of Bandar Tasik Selatan's).
* Jalan Loke Yew be widened from the present to six lanes. Works scheduled to complete in July this year. Yay!! 
Solution to Connaught Highway?s notorious congestion
A new
road was being built to connect Taman Len Seng and Alam Damai to
Puspakom, which is situated at the end of the East-West Link and the
start of the Connaught Highway.
With this road, I do not have to pay the RM1 parking fee anymore, to use Giant Hypermarket's parking road to get to Bandar Tasik Selatan (via the industrial area), in order to avoid the congestion and idiotic queue-jumpers at the Connaught Highway-Bandar Tun Razak traffic light junction.
Work on the 2.8km road with four traffic light junctions commenced in
September 2004 and the project is expected to be ready this May (hmm..somehow I doubt this dateline very much  ).
It is estimated that more than half of the traffic along Connaught
Highway will be diverted to this new road upon its completion. Does
that just mean the traffic bottleneck jam will starts in Alam Damai instead
of Taman Connaught? I hope they are aware of this possibility.
They might also build an additional U-turn on MRR2, near Taman
Connaught, about 200m from the existing U-turn near the Taman Billion
roundabout for the convenience of motorists wanting to travel between
the East-West Link and MRR2. Currently, motorists from the East-West
Link cannot go to MRR2, or
vice versa, although the two roads are next to each other, which I find
it extremely odd. When they first constructed this 2 highways, why
didn't they build a proper interchange? 
Other New Projects To Eliminate Choke Points Along Jalan Cheras:
These projects are scheduled to start progressively from this year and complete by 2010.
1. Tiered-junction at Jalan Tun Razak/Jalan Pudu/Jalan Cheras/ Jalan
Chan Sow Lin to remove the bottleneck here caused by traffic lights
Estimated cost: RM100mil
Construction period: December 2006 to December 2009
Scope of work:
· To build a 400m, four-lane concrete overpass connecting Jalan Tun Razak and Jalan Chan Sow Lin
. To extend the existing Pudu Underpass at Jalan Pudu/Jalan Yew to
another 800m to cross the traffic light junction at Jalan Tun
Razak/Jana Cheras
· Upgrade traffic light junction at Jalan Tun Razak/ Jalan Cheras/ Jalan Chan Sow Lin
2. Build or upgrade Jalan Cheras/Jalan Shamelin Perkasa junction and
upgrade Jalan Pudu Ulu to create free flow traffic for motorists from
Jalan Cheras entering Taman Shamelin Perkasa
Estimated cost: RM11.5mil
Construction period: June 2007 to 2009
Scope of work:
· Improve intersection at Jalan Cheras/ Jalan Pudu Ulu
· Widen and upgrade existing concrete bridge
· Widen Jalan Cheras
· Build bridge from Jalan Cheras to Jalan Shamelin Perkasa
3. Bridge connecting Jalan Mahkota, Taman Maluri to Jalan 4/91, Taman
Shamelin Perkasa to create smooth flow between the two flourishing
housing schemes, which are separated by Sungai Kerayong. Currently,
motorists have to make a big loop at Jalan Cheras to travel between the
housing schemes.
Estimated cost: RM61mil
Construction period: June 2007 to June 2010
Scope of work:
· Upgrade a minimum of four lanes along the proposed alignment of Jalan 4/91
· Construct a vehicular bridge crossing Sungai Kerayong and Star LRT rail track
· Construct a one-way vehicular bridge from the new bridge to Jalan Shamelin Perkasa towards Pandan
· Build a one-way vehicular bridge from Jalan Shamelin Perkasa to the new bridge towards Jalan Mahkota
So folks, let us keep our fingers crossed. Hope that the government (and those construction concessionaires) will keep their promises and meet the datelines. I'm sick of travelling (I mean crawling) from home to office for 55 minutes every morning, and repeating the torture/frustration/stress in the evening to get home.  Aren't you?
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