Pilot traffic monitoring system by October

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A pilot project incorporating a new traffic monitoring system will be implemented at the busy Ling Kai Cheng Road to help alleviate the unusually heavy traffic congestion there, especially during weekends.

A pilot project incorporating a new traffic monitoring system will be implemented at the busy Ling Kai Cheng Road to help alleviate the unusually heavy traffic congestion there, especially during weekends.

Dato Andrew Wong

Dato Andrew Wong

SIBU: A pilot project incorporating a new traffic monitoring system will be implemented at the busy Ling Kai Cheng Road here in early October to ease traffic congestion there.

Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) deputy chairman Dato Andrew Wong said the unusually heavy traffic there, especially during weekends, made the road an ideal site for the project.

He did not discount the possibility of extending the system, which had not been implemented in the stat, to other areas facing similar problem if it met its objective.

“The infrastructure is ready, just that there are some technical issues which we hope to resolve in a couple of weeks’ time.

“The pilot project will involve both system and personnel aspects. In fact, almost all our traffic light systems have been upgraded for them to be able to be fitted with the additional system.

“So, once the additional infrastructure is put in, we need to train certain personnel on how to use it.

“The council is doing this
pilot project to see whether the traffic flow can be improved,” Wong told The Borneo Post yesterday.

“I will assume this is the first in the state and so, we are very new. We don’t have a benchmark that we can benchmark ourselves on.

“This is more of SMC’s own initiative to try to see if the solution works.

“If it works then
we will be implementing it in all areas where we feel traffic congestion is extremely heavy,” he added.

Wong revealed this when asked if there was a study to improve the bottlenecks along Sibu Gateway during peak hours.

He mentioned besides Sibu Gateway and Ling Kai Cheng Road, the stretch of Oya Road in front of SMK Sacred Heart also experienced bottleneck.

Based on their survey, he said traffic flow was heavy along Ling Kai Cheng Road on some Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Asked if the system involved traffic police, he said the council would keep them posted on the development apart from getting their input.

He, however, pointed out that most work such as survey and analysis would be done by the council.

“Hopefully, the pilot project will be successful in reducing traffic congestion. When that happens, the same solution will be used to lessen traffic congestion at Sibu Gateway and near SMK Sacred Heart,” he added.