Malaysian Federal Roads System

Malaysian Federal Roads System
(Sistem Jalan Persekutuan Malaysia)

Highway shield of the Malaysian Federal Roads
System information
Maintained by Federal Public Works Department (JKR); numbers and routings assigned by Malaysian Ministry of Works.[1]
Formed: 1957 (Peninsular Malaysia)
1986 (Sabah and Sarawak)[2]
Highway names
Federal Roads Federal Route nn (FT nn)
System links
Tun Razak Highway (Federal route 12) runs from Segamat, Johor to Gambang, Pahang.
A direction signboard on Federal Route 3 in Terengganu.
A Federal Route code sign

Malaysian Federal Roads System (Malay: Sistem Laluan Persekutuan Malaysia), is the main national road network in Malaysia. All Federal Roads in Malaysia are under the purview of Ministry of Works (MOW). According to Minister's Function Act 1969, MOW responsible to plan, build and maintain all Federal Roads gazetted under the Federal Road Act 1959. However, most of the Federal roads' projects was built and maintained by the Malaysian Public Works Department (JKR) which are also one of the implementing agency under the MOW (with exception of Sabah and Sarawak, whereby JKR in these two states is under respective state government).

History

Most of the federal roads in Peninsular Malaysia were built during the British colonial era before 1957. At that time, the British government built the roads in order to enable them to transport goods and commodities easier.

In Sabah, most of the federal roads were built during the occupation of British North Borneo under North Borneo Chartered Company administration, and unlike most federal roads in Peninsular Malaysia which uses only numbers to label federal roads, Sabah federal road codes begin with the letter A followed by route number.

However, in Sarawak, no road network system was developed during the rule of White Rajah Brooke dynasty. As a result, right after Sarawak joined the federation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963, the federal government of Malaysia began to build a road network system connecting Sarawak to Sabah, known as Pan Borneo Highway.

Federal road standards

Overview

The total length of federal roads is 49,935 km (31,028 mi).

Federal routes are labeled with only numbers, for example Federal Route 1, while state routes are labeled with the state code letter followed by assigned numbers; for example Route J32 is a Johor state road. However, federal route numbers can also be added with the FT- prefix, which is normally used by JKR and Malaysian police. For example, Federal Route 1 can also be written as Federal Route FT1. Both federal and state roads have blue road signs and the text colour is white.

Most of the federal roads in Malaysia are 2-lane roads. Malaysia implements a right-hand driving system where drivers drive on the left side of the road. However, there are in certain places where additional lanes are available. In town areas, federal roads may become 4-lane roads to increase traffic capacity. In hilly areas, additional third climbing lane is available for slower vehicles such as buses and lorries.

Some federal roads may have motorcycle lanes. On Malaysian federal roads, the motorcycle lanes are placed at the extreme left side of each direction and only separated from the main lanes by black-and-white stripes to enable motorcyclists to overtake slower motorcycles and to turn right to exit the road.

Some expressways in Malaysia such as Federal Highway and Skudai Highway are federally funded, therefore all federally funded expressways are also classified as federal roads.

Nearly all federal roads are paved with typical tarmac except Skudai-Pontian Highway which is paved with concrete from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia interchange to Taman Sri Pulai junction and Sitiawan-Batak Rabit road (Federal route 5) from Sitiawan to Kota Setia. Meanwhile, at Federal Highway linking Klang to Kuala Lumpur, the section of the highway from Subang Jaya to Kota Darul Ehsan near Petaling Jaya are paved with asphalt.

Sarawak has some of the most extensive federal road network in Malaysia. All federal roads in Sarawak is connecting main divisions with exception of Mukah division. As for Kapit division, the only federal road serving this division is Jalan Bakun (starting from KM 95 - KM 120). Coastal road of Bintulu-Miri is a still in dispute between federal government and state government right of maintenance. It is due to the construction is federal funded, but the compensation and acquisition of land are from Sarawak state government. No federal roads are isolated from the network unlike state roads. Uniquely in Sarawak, federal road network is adjoined internationally to Brunei highway at Sungai Tujuh (Miri) with Kuala Belait (Brunei), Tedungan (Limbang) with Kuala Lurah (Brunei), Limbang with Puni (Brunei), Lawas with Labu (Brunei) and also to Indonesian road network at Tebedu (Serian district) with Entikong (Kalimantan Barat, Indonesia).

Malaysian federal roads are subject to the rural highway standard adopted by Malaysian Public Works Department (JKR), ranging from R1 and R1a (minor roads at villages and FELDA settlements with no access control and low speed limits) to R5 (federal roads or highways with limited access control and speed limits up to 90 km/h). R6 standard is exclusive for high-speed (up to 110 km/h) expressways with full access control.

Type of federal roads and route number categories

ExamplesInformationNumber digits
5
24
247		Main federal route numbers001 - 249
276
345		Institutional facilities federal roads250 - 479
EXIT 1
EXIT 226		Federal road exit numbersEXIT 1 - EXIT 99
EXIT 201 - EXIT 299
1
1-15
3-1		Main federal route numbers
(Sarawak)		1-1 - 1-59
3-1 - 3-99
A1
A3		Main federal route numbers
(Sabah; old numbering system)		A01 - A99
700
701
702		Main federal route numbers
(Labuan)		700 - 799
1123
2484		FELDA/FELCRA federal route numbers1000 - 1999
2000 - 2999
3218
3219		Industrial federal route numbers3000 - 3999

Main federal roads

Mostly found at Peninsula Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.

FELDA/FELCRA federal roads

Mostly found at FELDA and FELCRA settlements in Peninsula Malaysia only. The road was built by FELDA or FELCRA and JKR.

In Sarawak, federal roads for FELDA is in Lundu and for SALCRA is in Sarikei.

Industrial federal roads

Mostly found at the industrial areas in Peninsula Malaysia only.

In Sarawak, there are two industrial federal roads, which are located at Pending Industrial Estate in Kuching and Kidurong Industrial Estate in Bintulu.

Institutional facilities federal roads

Mostly found at the entrance to the federal institutional facilities such as university, institute, military bases, satellite earth stations, airports, TV and radio frequency stations, telecom exchange stations, hospitals and tourist attractions.

For more information, please refer to Road signs in Malaysia articles or Malaysian Road Signs Information Brochure

Road design

Rural

StandardMax design
speed limit
(km/h)		Minimum
lane width
(m)		Access controlApplication
JKR R6 110 3.5 Full Expressways under the administration of Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA)
JKR R5 100 3.5 Partial Primary roads and partial access highways for the Federal JKR
JKR R4 90 3.25 Partial Main / secondary roads
JKR R3 70 3.0 Partial Secondary roads
JKR R2 60 2.75 None Minor roads

Note: JKR R2 is the minimum geometrical standard for 2-lane roads
JKR R1 40 (5.0)* None Single-lane minor roads (country lane)
JKR R1a 40 (4.5)* None Single-lane roads (roads to restricted areas such as quarries)

Urban

StandardMax design
speed limit
(km/h)		Minimum
lane width
(m)		Access controlApplication
JKR U6 90 3.5 Full Expressways under the administration of Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA)
JKR U5 80 3.5 Partial Arterial roads and partial access municipal highways
JKR U4 70 3.25 Partial Arterial / collector roads
JKR U3 60 3.0 Partial Collector roads / Local streets
JKR U2 50 2.75 None Local streets

Note: JKR U2 is the minimum geometrical standard for 2-lane roads
JKR U1 40 (5.0)* None Single-lane street (in towns)
JKR U1a 40 (4.5)* None Single-lane street (as in low-cost housing areas)

* - Total width of 2-way road

(Source: Arahan Teknik (Jalan) 8/86 - A Guide on Geometric Design of Roads, Jabatan Kerja Raya Malaysia)

Malaysian federal roads as a part of Asian Highway Network

Asian Highway route shield.
Federal Roads distance sign with Asian Highway route shield.

Asian Highway Network is an international project between Asian nations to develop their highway systems which will form the main routes in the Asian Highway network. There are 7 Asian Highway routes passing through Malaysia - Asian Highway Route 2 , Asian Highway Route 18 , Asian Highway Route 140 , Asian Highway Route 141 , Asian Highway Route 142 , Asian Highway Route 143 and Asian Highway Route 150 .

The Malaysian section of Route consists of:-

The Malaysian section of Route consists of:-

The Malaysian section of Route consists of:-

The Malaysian section of Route consists of:-

The Malaysian section of Route consists of:-

The Malaysian section of Route consists of:-

The Malaysian section of Route consists of:-

Federal road maintenances

Before early 2000, the Malaysian federal roads were maintained by the Public Works Department. Beginning in 2000, the main contractors and maintenance company have the responsibility to maintain all federal roads in Malaysia.

RegionsCompany
Northern regionBelati Wangsa (M) Sdn Bhd
Central and east coast regionRoadcare (M) Sdn Bhd
Southern regionSelia Selenggara Selatan (M) Sdn Bhd;
Sabah
(including Federal Territory of Labuan)		Pembinaan Kekal Mewah Sdn Bhd
Sarawak
(Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman, Betong, Sarikei region)		PPES Works Sdn. Bhd; a subsidiary of the Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad (CMSB) Group
Sarawak
(Sibu, Mukah, Bintulu region)		HCM Engineering Sdn. Bhd.; a subsidiary of the Protasco Berhad
Sarawak
(Miri, Limbang, Kapit region)		Endaya Construction Sdn. Bhd.; a subsidiary of the Encorp Properties Sdn. Bhd.

Safety

Speed limits

The default speed limit and National Speed Limits is 90 km/h (55 mph); however, a lower speed limit of 80 km/h (50 mph) has been implemented during festive seasons starting from the 2006 Hari Raya Aidilfitri as a preventive measure to reduce accidents during festive seasons. In town areas, the speed limit is reduced to 60 km/h (40 mph). Speed traps are also deployed by the Malaysian police at many places along the federal roads.

Accidents

Malaysian federal roads are always sites of most of the road accidents in Malaysia, especially during festive seasons.

List of accident-prone areas in Malaysian federal roads

During festive seasons

During festive seasons such as Chinese New Year, Deepavali, Christmas and Hari Raya Aidilfitri, activities such as construction, road repairs and maintenance works have been stopped. Meanwhile, a heavy goods vehicles such as logging truck, cement truck, intermodal container truck, construction materials truck and other heavy goods vehicles (except tanker lorry, provision goods truck, road crane crane, tow truck, fire engine, ambulance etc.) are banned from using roads, highways and expressways during festive seasons. A massive nationwide operation known as Ops Selamat (Previously named as Ops Sikap) are held annually by the Malaysian police to ensure safety on all roads in Malaysia during festive seasons.

Automated Enforcement System (AES)

The Automated Enforcement System (AES) is the road safety enforcement system to monitored all federal roads, highways and expressways in Malaysia. This system came into effect on 22 September 2012.

Type of AES

Natural hazards

The Public Works Department has monitored all federal roads in Malaysia and make sure that no landslides, flash floods and other natural hazards may happen again.

List of landslide-prone areas

List of flash floods-prone areas

Facilities on the Malaysian federal roads

Interesting facts

List of federal roads

See also "List of Federal Roads in Malaysia"
For expressways and highways, see also "List of expressways and highways in Malaysia"

References

  1. ↑ Malaysian Ministry of Works (2013-04-11). "Know Your Federal Roads". Malaysian Ministry of Works. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
  2. ↑ Federal Roads Act 1959 (Act 376). Accessed on 2015-11-08.

Useful links

See also

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, January 28, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.