Recently, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state government is prepared to replace the proposed undersea tunnel with a bridge if the federal government gives its approval to the construction of the third bridge in the state.
Penang already has two bridges from the main land, and there has been divided opinions as the state government mulls going over the sea or under the sea.
The discussion on tunnel or bridge not only sparked a rowdy debate that took place Tuesday, besides raising doubts over the transparency of the Penang Government.
Works on the Penang Undersea Tunnel that were scheduled to begin this month but is now said to probably face further delay and possibly a cancellation on the entire tunnel following a hold call on its feasibility study by the state government.
The undersea tunnel, connecting Persiaran Gurney and Bagan Ajam, is part of the RM6.3 billion Penang Major Road and Tunnel (PMRT) project, an initiative undertaken by the state government to ease traffic congestion.
While there are Penang resident who are for the project in hopes that it would boost Penang economy and relief of its current worsening traffic congestion, the project has received continuous objection since the inception of the idea back in 2011.
A member of the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) Dr Lim Mah Hui says the roads in the city are narrow and not meant for high vehicular traffic and that the people in the city need to learn to live with them.
Against the idea of the undersea tunnel, Mah Hui points out that whether the proposal is to build a bridge or tunnel it will not solve traffic congestion.
He also indicates that this is not the first time he is stressing on the fact that Penang need neither.
“It won’t solve the problem as it is a two-way traffic problem. It isn’t just easing traffic flowing out, because the tunnel or bridge will attract more cars into the city.
“What Penang needs is a good public transport system. The money that was budgeted to build the bridge should be channeled to invest in a train system or even a monorail in the city centre,” he says.
Making reference to Klang Valley that has so many highways built over the past 30 years the traffic congestion only got worse; and they have not stopped building more highways.
Mah Hui also says that the money allocated should be spent transportation solutions that could lessen the congestion on the road.
“It is a waste of money to be spending RM3 billion on a tunnel or a bridge. Penang already has problems with too many cars commuting in and out of the island,” he says.
He also gave an example of how a good public transportation like the train would help “remove” cars off the road thus easing the traffic.
“One bus will take 30 to 40 cars off the roads; one tram with five carriages will take 200 cars off the roads.
“This is a no-brainer. It is therefore illogical to advocate building more roads to cater to private cars as the solution,” he adds.
While some continues to argue that the tunnel is necessary to boost economic growth in a long run, Mah Hui has previously said that the Halcrow’s traffic surveys show that only 20% percent of road users are for business and 80% are by personal travellers.
“Even more revealing, an MBPP traffic survey showed that 70% to 80% of private cars are single occupancy, not dissimilar to Houston’s 90%.
“I will fully support building segregated bus or tram lanes, not roads for more private cars,” he says.
Commenting on the recent ‘shouting match’ that occurred over a public dialogue held between Penang State Exco Lim Hock Seng and Gerakan Secretary-General Liang Teck Meng was a waste of time.
“Penang is not ready for a matured debate or analysis of such issues that is why it resulted in a rowdy turnout,” he says.
During its initial inception the undersea tunnel, it was envisioned as the third link between Penang Island and Seberang Perai on mainland, after the first and second bridge.
The tunnel project was later included in the Penang Transport Master Plan and was deemed as one of the eventual five cross-strait links, which include the Penang Sky Cab and the George Town – Butterworth LRT.
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