KUCHING, July 15: The fast lanes of the Mile 6 flyover dual carriageway are set to open to traffic at 5pm today.
In announcing this through a notice issued today, Public Works Department (JKR) Sarawak advised road users to follow the directional signages installed as the diversion routes up to the flyover will be opened today.
After years of construction and delays due to several issues and Covid-19 pandemic constraints, this is welcome news in the hope that it will help alleviate and smoothen traffic flow in the area.
Just last week, JKR Sarawak informed that the opening of both the fast and slow lanes for Mile 6 and 7 flyovers would be further delayed due to a shortage of bitumen supply in Kuching since early June as suppliers were facing shipment delays from Singapore as well as a breakdown at one of the Independent Oil Terminals (IOT) in Sejingkat.
It added that many road construction packages, and not only the Mile 6 and 7 flyover projects, faced similar challenges as there were limited bitumen stock and supply availability since early June.
However, two days later, on July 9, Borneo Asphalt Sdn Bhd (BASB) and IOT Sejingkat issued a joint statement to inform that they have ample bitumen stock for the market and expressed their willingness to support JKR Sarawak’s contractors to ensure no interruptions, especially for road projects in Sarawak.
Despite the glitches and hiccups, it appears that the contractors are able to deliver their promise to have one lane in both directions of the Mile 6 flyover open today (July 15).
The full opening of the Mile 6 flyover is expected to be in the first week of August.
As for the Mile 7 flyover, where one lane in both directions was opened to the public on May 31, contractors said they are committed to completing the entire flyover for full opening by July 25.
For any complaints or further information on the traffic flow, the public can contact JKR Sarawak’s Pan Borneo Highway Sarawak Unit at 082-230879 or Audi Munir (PM) at 016-8792057 and Isin Senada (TMO) at 017-8504026. — DayakDaily
