UEM, MEX moot new highways to cut travel time to KLIA

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 — In a bid to shorten travel time, two companies are seeking the government’s green-light to build new highways to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), The Star’s business pull-out reported today.

Infrastructure giant UEM Group Bhd wants to build a 45km highway linking Seremban’s Senawang directly to the airport in Sepang, allowing those driving from the southern region to skip the heavy traffic between Seremban and Nilai on the North-South Expressway (NSE).

Part of UEM’s plans include the building of a toll-free 6km link from the Kajang-Seremban Expressway (LEKAS)’s Paroi exit to the company’s new Senawang-KLIA link, StarBiz reported today, citing sources.

The company’s proposal has been submitted to Putrajaya, with the new road dubbed the Paroi-Senawang-KLIA-Salak Tinggi highway (SKLIA) is expected to cost RM2.2 billion, with land acquisitions for the project possibly bumping up the price by another RM500 million, StarBiz said.

But UEM’s competitor Maju Expressway Sdn Bhd (MEX) is also looking to build a new road to KLIA by extending its existing highway, with the cost estimated at around RM1 billion.

The company is now studying the extension of its existing KL-Putrajaya Highway (MEX) by 18km to connect it to KLIA, which it reportedly said would be the fastest link between the city centre and the airport when completed.

UEM and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) own 51 per cent and 49 per cent of toll concessionaire PLUS Malaysia Bhd respectively.

PLUS already holds the concession for the NSE, NSE Central Link (ELITE), North Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE) and the Seremban-Port Dickson Highway, StarBiz said.

The SKLIA proposal by UEM, which is also a unit of the government’s investment arm Khazanah Nasional, could likely benefit PLUS further.

If approved, the SKLIA proposal would see KLIA being connected to Salak Tinggi, which would link the new highway to PLUS’s ELITE highway from Senawang.

Although StarBiz said the extension to Salak Tinggi would boost the traffic volume on the new SKLIA, it said it was unclear if the number of users would be sufficient to make it unnecessary for the government to back it financially.