KUALA LUMPUR: As of noon today, traffic flow on several major highways in the country is under control, with no extraordinary congestion reported on major roads leading out of the Klang Valley as city dwellers begin their journey back to their hometowns in preparation for Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
However, according to traffic updates on the Lebuhraya Pantai Timur's Facebook page, traffic on the KL-Karak Highway heading to the east coast is slow-moving for 12.7 km from KM24.4 to KM37.1, from Gombak to Genting Sempah due to an increase in vehicles.
The East Coast Highway 1 traffic was reportedly to be smooth in both directions.
On the North-South Expressway (Plus), as of 9.30am, various Smartlane routes have been activated, including from KM 8.1 to KM 6.1 from USJ to Seafield, KM 367.30 to KM 354.0 from Slim River to Sungkai, KM 354 to KM 356 from Sungkai to Slim River, and KM303.2 to KM 297 from Tapah to Gopeng.
The Smartlane routes have also been activated at KM27 to KM19 from Kulai to Senai, KM19 to KM27 from Senai to Kulai, KM4.2 to KM1.8 from Setia Tropika to Pasir Gudang, and from KM1.8 to KM6 from Pasir Gudang to Kempas.
Technician Mohamad Nasruan Adil Abdul Rahim, 32, left Seremban, Negri Sembilan for Sitiawan, Perak yesterday to celebrate the Hari Raya.
"We left Seremban at 10.30am and arrived in Lekir, Sitiawan at 2.30pm. This time around, the journey back home for Hari Raya Aidilfitri was smooth, with only a few areas throughout our journey experiencing slow traffic.
"This may be because many had chosen to travel back to their hometowns on Friday or they will start their journey tomorrow to enjoy toll-free travel," said Nasruan when contacted.
The Works Ministry on March 28 said the government, during a cabinet meeting on Feb 7, had agreed to provide toll exemptions for two days exclusively to Class 1 vehicles (private vehicles) on April 8 and 9.
The toll exemption will be implemented on all highways starting from 12.01 am on April 8 (Monday) and will end at 11.59 pm on April 9 (Tuesday).
Toll exemptions are at all toll plazas, except at border toll plazas, namely the Sultan Iskandar Building Toll Plaza (BSI) and the Tanjung Kupang Toll Plaza in Johor.
The ministry had also projected that over two million vehicles were expected to be on major highways during the Aidilfitri holidays. An increase in vehicle traffic was expected on peak days, specifically on April 5, 6, 9, 12, 13, and 14.
It said the projected traffic figure represents a 15 per cent increase compared with the usual 1.82 million daily traffic volume.
