Traffic volume to double with DUKE 2

Managing Director Datuk Seri Lim Keng Cheng said traffic at DUKE would easily double from an existing average of 135,000 vehicles per day and at the same time alleviate traffic congestion along Jalan Pahang, especially at the roundabout.

"Its not really a delay. Its a four-year project but we hope to complete it in three years.

"We have about a year's buffer and as of today, we are seven-months ahead of schedule," he told Bernama after Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof visited the DUKE Two project site near the entrance to the new Tun Razak Link (TR Link).

As an alternative route, a nine-kilometre TR Link connecting Jalan Tun Razak near Kuala Lumpur Hospital to the Sentul Pasar Interchange at Jalan Gombak would open to the traffic beginning 8pm tonight.

Lim said the DUKE projects, being the group's main highway infrastructure business, contributed one-third of Ekovest's total revenue.

The 16.4 km DUKE Phase 2 project, costing RM1.18 billion, is mostly elevated and comprise the TR link and Sri Damansara Link, which will be connected to the existing DUKE One.

The existing DUKE One, built at a cost of RM980 million, is a 19 km tolled highway which provided connectivity to the East-West route of northern Kuala Lumpur (KL), connecting the New Klang Valley Expressway in west KL to the KL-Karak Highway in the north and the Middle Ring Road Two in the east.

Meanwhile, Ekovest's concession for Duke Phase Three, a 32-km highway also known as Setiawangsa-Pantai Expressway, is under construction at a cost of RM3.9 billion and comes with a concession period of 53 years, connecting Taman Melati and the Sprint Highway via Kerinci Link.