KUALA LUMPUR: Motorists welcomed the opening of the Damansara-Shah Alam Elevated Expressway (DASH), but many expressed hope that the toll rate will be reasonable.

They agree that DASH, which was opened at 12.01 am last Friday, shortens their travel time, but doubt they would use it if the toll rate is high.

A civil servant, Siti Adabiyah Sulaiman, 32, said she was able to save about 30 minutes during peak hours if she used the highway to go to her office in the federal capital from her residence in Sungai Buloh.

"It took me only 60 minutes, compared to 90 minutes normally, as I can avoid the congestion at the Rawang Selatan and Jalan Duta toll plazas.

"My only hope is that the toll rate will be reasonable as this will encourage motorists to use the expressway," she told Bernama.

Construction of DASH began in August 2016. It connects Puncak Perdana and Shah Alam, in Selangor, to Penchala, Kuala Lumpur, and is expected to be able to reduce congestion at Persiaran Mokhtar Dahari by 39 percent, Jalan Sungai Buloh (33 percent) and Persiaran Surian (43 percent).

It is also expected to help disperse traffic for future developments in areas like Kwasa Damansara, Elmina and Shah Alam to Damansara.

Businessman Steven Lee, 40, said he is relieved to have another alternative road to go to his office, which is in Kota Damansara, from his house in Damansara Perdana.

It only takes five minutes to reach my office from home now, compared with 15 minutes before. he said.

Surveyor Hanis Amirah Hasnan, 34, who uses the highway from Kota Damansara to Penchala, also hoped that the toll rate will be reasonable.

However, content writer Arini Salleh, 31, who described the traffic situation as very bad at the Puncak Perdana exit during peak hours in the afternoon, said it was due to a bottleneck with vehicles coming from three directions heading to Persiaran Mokhtar Dahari.

Private employee Faris Fuad, 31, also expressed concern with the traffic situation at the Puncak Perdana exit, saying that his fear was that it would worsen and as such, beat DASH's purpose of dispersing the traffic in Persiaran Mokhtar Dahari.

"If the drive is smooth, it is only on the highway, but after that, once we exit the highway and enter the normal road, the time spent on the road doesn't differ much," said Faris, who lives in Shah Alam.

-- BERNAMA