INGENIEUR
ENGINEERING NOSTALGIA
INGENIEUR
ENGINEERING NOSTALGIA
Federal Highway – Upgrading in Stages
By Cheo Hong Keyong
Photo taken on 29.9.1958 showing the Minister for Works , Posts and Telecoms , YB Tun Sardon bin Jubir ( with coat and songkok ) talking to an engineer on the dual-carriage way construction beginning from Bangsar Road to the Sungei Way traffic roundabout . This road was opened on 14.1.1959 by the Minister of Works , Post and Telecoms .
Source : Jabatan Penerangan Malaysia
Photo taken on 14.4.1978 showing the completion of the second stage of the upgrading work of the Federal Highway viewed from Angkasapuri ( Kuala Lumpur ) towards Petaling Jaya showing the familiar buildings of Jaya Puri ( now the Hilton PJ ) and Asia Jaya . The Ministry in charge then was the Ministry of Works and Public Utilities .
Source : Jabatan Penerangan Malaysia
The first stage of upgrading the Federal Highway started in 1956 when the Malaysian Government decided to upgrade the Kuala Lumpur to Klang road to a highway for smoother access to Port Swettenham ( Port Klang ), the first national port of Malaysia . The construction work undertaken by the Public Works Department ( Jabatan Kerja Raya , JKR ), started in 1956 . Completed on 14.1.1959 , the Federal Highway , with a design speed of 60 mph , was the first expressway in Malaysia .
The second stage of upgrading works was carried out as part of the Kuala Lumpur Traffic Dispersal Scheme in 1974 by JKR with a loan from the World Bank . The upgrading work from Kuala Lumpur to the Subang Airport Interchange started in 1974 and was completed in 1977 . Most sections of the highway were upgraded to four lanes except for the six-lane segment near Petaling Jaya .
Federal Highway , 2016 .
The Federal Highway was upgraded again in 1992 by Projek Lebuhraya Usahasama ( PLUS ) Bhd into a full six-lane highway with two toll plazas at Batu Tiga and Sungei Rasau .
80 VOL 67 JULY-SEPTEMBER 2016