BUCC to be asked to postpone road closure

The Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) will write to Bandar Utama City Corporation (BUCC) to postpone its decision to close down an ungazetted road sitting on its land until a more viable solution is found.

Puasa Md Taib

"MBPJ will write to BUCC to request it to postpone its decision to turn Jalan Tanjung into a one-way street from Nov 20 and close it completely after a certain time," Deputy Mayor Puasa Md Taib told theSun today after a three-hour intense meeting with the councillors at its headquarters.

The decision was made following more than 11,000 signatories petitioned to the mayor on Tuesday to stop the closure of Jalan Tanjung which partially sits on land belonging to BUCC.

Puasa, who chaired the meeting in the absence of the mayor said this is the outcome of the meeting after taking serious consideration from all parties.

"Nevertheless it is totally up to the discretion of the land owner to take the necessary action about matters concerning his land," he said.

Puasa said the matters discussed in the meeting will be informed to the Selangor state government, however there are certain aspects of enforcement and execution that empowers the city council to make its own decision.

"We will refer to the state government in all the developments of the issue but MBPJ still has more discussions and meetings to go before the final decision can be made," he explained.

"We also need to re-discuss the matter further with all the residents associations and the developers and will solve this issue in stages."

BUCC has put up notices to inform motorists that the ungazetted Jalan Tanjung would be turned into a oneway street on Nov 20 and closed for good six months later.

Motorists use the road daily to access Lebuh Bandar Utama, Jalan Tropicana and the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE).

BUCC had in 1993 signed an agreement allowing Dijaya Corporation (Dijaya) to use the land temporarily to access areas for Tropicana development.

On Tuesday, Tropicana Residents Association led a 19-man delegation to hand over the petition to MBPJ urging it and the state government to intervene and stop the closure.

The petition carries 11,000 signatures, including those of officials of 19 residents associations, a school and commercial managements in the affected areas – Tropicana, Kota Damansara and Sunway Damansara covering some 20 housing estates.

Source : Sun

[tags : opaldamansara condo property home residents sunway semid condominium ODJMC]

Residents continue to protest planned closure

ABOUT 100 residents showed up at the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) headquarters in Jalan Yong Shook Lin to hand over a petition against the closure of Jalan Tanjung in Bandar Utama.

The residents from areas like Tropicana, Aman Suria, Palm Spring @Damansara Condominium and Bandar Utama are against the closure of the road.

Also present were representatives from SJK (C) Damansara and Dijaya Corporation.

United front: Residents from several areas gathered at the MBPJ headquarters to voice their displeasure about the closure plan.

It was recently announced that the road, which served as an entrance and exit point for motorists travelling between Bandar Utama and Tropicana, would be closed.

A signboard was also put up, announcing the change of traffic flow to one-way coming out of Tropicana.

Action group chairman Mohamed Shukri Zain, who is also Tropicana Residents Association vice-president, said they had collected more than 11,000 signatures from residents who were opposed to the road closure.

The MBPJ was surprisingly organised this time around, preparing a room for the residents to hold a press conference and to hand over the petition.

Petaling Jaya deputy mayor Puasa Md Taib was present to receive the signatures and to take note of the issues and concerns raised by those present.

Shocking sight: Signs saying that the access has been closed have already been placed in Jalan Tanjung.

MBPJ engineering head Ismail Shafie was also present during the meeting.

Shukri said during several meetings between residents, the Bandar Utama developer and MBPJ, most of the residents were against the road closure.

“It is a critical road for many residents besides those from Tropicana. If the road is closed, then the council should also consider closing off access from Kota Damansara (via Persiaran Surian) as many cars from outside use the road,” Shukri said.

A Bandar Utama resident said those staying in Bandar Utama were also affected as they also had to deal with the traffic congestion.

“Bandar Utama has already waited 12 years to take back the road.

“Why can’t they wait a bit longer while we find an alternative road?” Aman Suria Residents Association chairman Wendy Chan asked.

Several residents said they saw a signboard on Tuesday morning in front of the Riana Green Condominium saying that the access to the road was closed.

Puasa said the matter would be brought to the traffic and infrastructure sub-committee that would meet today and he assured residents that the road would not be closed until Nov 20.

“Our traffic consultant has also done a traffic study and has concluded that Jalan Tanjung was one of the major roads that needs to be considered in view of development in the area,” Puasa said.

For the sake of public interest, Puasa said it was an option for the state to buy over the land but that would only be decided after the sub-committee had gone through all the details.

When contacted, Bandar Utama Development Sdn Bhd director Datuk Teo Chiang Kok said he was disappointed to see that residents have reneged on the agreement reached during the previous meetings, which was to change the traffic flow to one way for six months before closing the road.

“There are already many approved access roads which residents can use. This is not an approved road.

“We also have to mitigate our losses because we’ve lost a multinational company which was renting our building before this. We also have more land to develop.

“We hope that they understand and look at the bigger picture. Jalan Tanjung was supposed to be a temporary access and, after 12 years, it’s only fair that we close the road,” said Teo.

Commenting on the “Access Closed” signboards, Teo said the contractor was not supposed to put up the boards until later, and he would ask them to cover up the boards for the time being.

Source : STAR

[tags : opaldamansara condo property home residents sunway semid condominium ODJMC]

11,000 Reasons to keep the Bandar Utama Road Open

Tropicana Resident Association vice president Mohd Shukri Zain (right) handed over 11,000 signatories and petition to Petaling Jaya City Council(MBPJ) deputy mayor Puasa Md Taib yesterday urging the council and Selangor State Government to stop the road closure.

More than 11,000 households today petitioned the mayor to stop the closure of the a road which partially sits on land belonging to Bandar Utama City Corporation (BUCC).

BUCC has put up notices to inform motorists that the ungazetted Jalan Tanjung would be turned into a one-way street on Nov 20 and closed for good six months later.

Motorists use the road to access Lebuh Bandar Utama, Jalan Tropicana and the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE) -- see map .

BUCC had in 1993 signed an agreement allowing Dijaya Corporation (Dijaya) to use the land temporarily to access areas for Tropicana development.

Today, Tropicana Residents Association vice-president Mohd Shukri Zain led a 19-man delegation to hand over the petition to the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) represented by Deputy Mayor Puasa Md Taib.

The petition, carrying 11,000 signatures, including those of officials of 19 residents associations, a school and commercial managements in the affected areas -- Tropicana, Kota Damansara and Sunway Damansara covering some 20 housing estates.

Puasa said the council’s Infrastructure and Road Traffic Advisory Committee would meet today to decide whether to allow the road closure or not.

He said based on a traffic study conducted early this year, “it is better to let the road operate as usual”.

“This is just an opinion and a decision will be made by the committee chaired by the mayor, after taking into consideration views from both parties, including BUCC.

“MBPJ will also ensure that till Nov 20, the road will not be closed to public because it will worsen matters,” he added.

Shukri lamented MBPJ’s lack of response to the issue and urged it to push for a decision to acquire the land on which Jalan Tanjung sits.

“We cannot accept (Bukit Lanjan assemblyman and state executive councillor) YB Elizabeth Wong’s statement that it is not feasible for the Selangor government to acquire the land,” he said on behalf of an action committee formed by the 19 aggrieved groups.

The petition claimed if the road was closed, it would inconvenience some 20,000 daily users.

“The usual 15-minute journey would become an hour-long one due to the existing daily traffic congestion. It will affect thousands of pupils of SJK(C) Damansara located on Jalan Tropicana Selatan,” said Shukri.

He said Jalan Tanjung had been in use since 1996 by commuters from Kota Damansara, Tropicana and Bandar Utama.

BUCC only owns a small portion of the road, about 8,600 sq ft, representing about 4.75% of Jalan Tanjung to Lebuh Bandar Utama and NKVE.

The agreement between Dijaya and BUCC was to allow Dijaya temporary access into Tropicana Golf & Country Resort (TGCR) and the land be returned after a permanent road is constructed.

However, Jalan Tanjung evolved into a “public road” since then as several more development projects were approved in the area over the past 10 years.

“If Jalan Tanjung is closed, traffic volume will be diverted to Persiaran Damansara Indah, Persiaran Tropicana and Persiaran Surian which are already congested,” Shukri explained.

“At valuation, the part of the land which BUCC owns may not cost more than RM1.5 million. Why is BUCC adamant in closing this road and not yield in the interest of the public?” asked Shukri.

On Aug 28, last year BUCC issued a 14-day closure notice to TGCR after which two meetings were held among the aggrieved groups, the two developers, MBPJ officers and Wong to try and resolve the problem.

BUCC proposed to turn the road into a one-way street exit road temporarily, while the entry road should be through Persiaran Bukit Utama from Nov 20 and six months later the road will be closed for good.

Shukri said none of the groups present at the meetings agreed with the decision but it was put to them as a “no-choice-option”.

“All the 19 aggrieved parties want the status quo to remain, that is to allow the public to use the road freely,” he said.

Shukri said closing the road just because part of it was on private property “is unfair” and it deprives the rights of the public”.

“Furthermore, the owner does not have any plan to use the land for any development,” he said.

Meanwhile, Wong told theSun: “The state government has no intention to acquire the land as it has no clear objectives to do so. The land was not supposed to be a road in the first place.”

She said the land, however became a “road” when the public started using it to get across more conveniently.

However, the aggrieved parties said they could not confirm from the state government Wong’s statement on the acquisition.

Wong said Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia (LLM), which owns about three quarters of the land where Jalan Tanjung sits, has submitted a proposal to expand the toll plaza on the highway and thus there was no point to acquire the land.

On this, a resident commented that the extension of the toll plaza, if any, has no relevance to the road closure and would not become an alternative route. The resident stated that that he was surprised with Wong’s solution to the problem.

The residents want the state government to step in to address the problem and not let BUCC to close the road arbitrarily.

Since the land involved is small, which may cost some RM1.5 million based on current valuation, there is a suggestion that the few developers in the area should chip in if the state says there is no budget allocated for an acquistion.

Source : Sun Newspaper

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[tags : opaldamansara condo property home residents sunway semid condominium ODJMC]

Chronology of events - Leading to Road Closure of Jalan Tanjung

Chronology of events

Late 1980s: Plans to develop Bandar Utama approved

1992: Tropicana Golf & Country Resort (TGCR) developed

April 1993: Agreement signed between Dijaya Corporation and Bandar Utama to use the land belonging to Bandar Utama as a temporary access to the Tropicana development. Once the permanent access road was completed, the land should be handed back to Bandar Utama. Both parties entered into an agreement to jointly build the overhead bridge linking the northern and southern developments of Bandar Utama. TGCR contributed 25% to the bridge and eastern ramps; bore 100% of the cost for the western ramps, traffic lights and northern and southern access points and paid for the right of way to PLUS.

1996: The bridge and the access points were completed and opened to the public

January 1997: Bandar Utama completed its portion of the permanent access road via BU 11

2006: The western ramp (giving direct access from Bandar Utama onto the NKVE) was closed. Traffic from Bandar Utama heading towards the NKVE now have to make a U-Turn under the Kg Kayu Ara flyover

2008: Following an increase in traffic and complaints from the public, MBPJ widened the Lebuh Bandar Utama bridge


Source : STAR

[tags : opaldamansara condo property home residents sunway semid condominium ODJMC]

Elizabeth Wong: Not feasible to acquire Jalan Tanjung land

Wong: Not feasible to acquire Jalan Tanjung land

IT IS not feasible for the Selangor state government to acquire the land to make Jalan Tanjung in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, a public road.

“A part of it belongs to the Bandar Utama developer but three quarters of it belong to the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM),” said Bukit Lanjan assemblyman Elizabeth Wong during the launch of the Youth for Change programme at the 1 Utama Shoping Centre on Saturday.

It was recently announced that the road, which served as entrance and exit points for motorists travelling between Bandar Utama and Tropicana, would be closed.

For all to see: A signboard informing motorists that Jalan Tanjung would be turned into a one-way street for cars coming out of Tropicana starting from Nov 20.

Wong said proposals had already been submitted for expansion work on the Sprint and NKVE highways that run parallel to the road.

“Tropicana developer Dijaya Corporation should undertake the social responsibility to conduct a traffic study in the area as it has several developments there,” she said.

Wong said exit points were already available for residents in that area, with the approved one being the exit going out to BU11.

She added that about 20 new projects were expected to come up in the area and the developers of the current and upcoming projects should look into alternative routes.

Wong said the more sensible approach would be to find an access to get onto the NKVE.

Cause for concern: A bird’s eye view of the Lebuh Bandar Utama bridge. Traffic is usually busy during rush hour with cars coming in from the Sprint Highway using the ramp (top right) and cars coming from Aman Suria and Kampung Chempaka from the right of the bridge.

She also stressed that the ultimate solution was public transport and not to build more roads.

Bandar Utama Development Sdn Bhd director Datuk Teo Chiang Kok said the road was initially used as a service road when construction of the Tropicana area began 12 years ago.

“We initially agreed to let them use the road for two years but it has gone on for 12 years,” said Teo.

He said during the meetings held with residents, many of the residents association representatives had agreed to the implementation of a one-way traffic coming out of Tropicana for six months.

“The area behind Bandar Utama is four to five times bigger in terms of density and the traffic from there was never meant to spill into Bandar Utama,” said Teo.

Dijaya Corporation Berhad executive director C.H. Quek acknowleged that there was an agreement signed between the two parties to use the land belonging to Bandar Utama Development Sdn Bhd as a temporary access.

“We have completed the permanent access (Persiaran Tropicana) but it was originally only meant to cater to traffic from our development. Circumstances have changed since then and traffic in the area has increased from the many developments in the area. Even motorists from Kota Damansara and Sg Buloh are using the roads to get to Bandar Utama,” said Quek.

He said the permanent access through Persiaran Tropicana should be an addition to the Jalan Tanjung access and not a replacement in view of the additional developments that had mushroomed.

He added that it was unlikely that PLUS or the LLM would use the highway reserve for widening work because there was a constriction beneath the Lebuh Bandar Utama bridge with only two lanes heading towards Damansara, and there would be a bottleneck from the six lanes at the toll plaza.

He added that for the sake of public interest, the road should remain a public road as the part belonging to Bandar Utama amounted to only a small area of about 800sq metres.

Quek said although the traffic light system would be reduced by one phase (from Jalan Tanjung), when the road was closed, the green time for traffic heading towards Centrepoint from BU11 would need to be increased to cater to the additional traffic so the waiting time for other cars remain unchanged.

A PLUS Highway spokesman said they did not have any plans to extend their Damansara toll plaza.

Source : STAR

[tags : opaldamansara condo property home residents sunway semid condominium ODJMC]

Most residents against road closure

AMAN Suria Residents Association chairman Wendy Chan feels that Jalan Tanjung should remain open.

“The problem of the Tropicana tunnel has just been solved and when Jalan Tanjung closes, the tunnel will pose another problem as the traffic will spill into BU11 and BU12,” said Chan.

She said many people used the road as an alternative to go to Kota Damansara and Sunway Damansara.

“Those staying in TR1 would have to make a big turn just to go home. It will also be a nightmare for parents who are sending their children to the SRJK(C) Damansara,” she said.

SRJK (C) Damansara board chairman Michael Tang said the road closure would have affect the school as there would be no holding area for parents’ cars.

“There is a road divider there now and if they close the road, parents won’t be able to turn into the school,” he said.

Tang added that it would be difficult for parents from areas like Damansara Utama, Damansara Jaya and Bandar Utama to send their children to school.

Bandar Utama Residents Association chairman Datuk Manpal Singh said the residents of Bandar Utama had no objection over the road closure.

He said the move would help to ease the traffic congestion in Bandar Utama.

“There are no objections so far from the area committee of BU11 and BU12.

“We don’t think traffic spilling into these areas will be significant,” he said.

Source : STAR

[tags : opaldamansara condo property home residents sunway semid condominium ODJMC]

Residents Against Road Closure

A NOTICE announcing the closure of Jalan Tanjung in Bandar Utama has residents in the area up in arms.

The road serves as an entrance and exit point for motorists travelling between Bandar Utama and Tropicana.

The road was also frequently used by motorists from Bandar Utama and Tropicana to get to and from Kota Damansara and Sunway Damansara via Persiaran Surian.

Tropicana Residents Association vice-president Mohamed Shukri Zain said they were in the process of collecting about 6,000 signatures from residents in the area, including Sunway Damansara, Sunway Opal, Damansara Lagenda and Riana Green Condominiums.

One way only: A signboard informing motorists that Jalan Tanjung will be turned into a one-way street for cars coming out of Tropicana starting Nov 26. Motorists are advised to use Persiaran Bukit Utama as an alternative road into Tropicana

“Many of the residents do not want the road to be closed. We will be meeting the mayor (Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman) to hand over a petition,” said Shukri, who is heading the action committee.

He said that even though the road was owned by the Bandar Utama developer, it was a matter of public interest as many other people used the road besides Tropicana residents.

“When the agreement was made between the developers of Tropicana and Bandar Utama to temporarily use the road as an access, there were no other residential areas.

“But, over the years, many other developments have sprung up,” Shukri said.

He said the main access through the Tropicana tunnel would not be able to cope with the traffic if Jalan Tanjung was closed.

“It would merely shift the congestion from that junction to the BU11 junction,” he said.

He said that in the interest of public convenience, residents were calling for the state government to acquire the land under the Land Acquisition Act 1960.

Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) public relations officer Zainun Zakaria said the notification signboard to change the traffic flow to one-way was put up by the developer, not the council.

“So far, the council has not made any decision on the road closure. Any decision would have to go through the Infrastructure and Traffic sub-committee,” she said.

She added that the council would discuss the feasibility of acquiring the land for public use.

The sub-committee is scheduled to meet on Nov 11.

STAR

[tags : opaldamansara condo property home residents sunway semid condominium ODJMC]