Malaysian Federal Roads System


Malaysian Federal Roads System, is the main national road network in Malaysia. All Federal Roads in Malaysia are under the purview of the Ministry of Works. According to the Ministerial Functions Act 1969, the MOW is responsible to plan, build and maintain all Federal Roads gazetted under the Federal Roads Act 1959. However, most of the Federal roads' projects were built and maintained by the Malaysian Public Works Department, which is also one of the implementing agencies under the MOW.

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.
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 32 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 two-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 four-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 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. 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 with Kuala Belait, Tedungan with Kuala Lurah, Limbang with Puni, Lawas with Labu and also to Indonesian road network at Tebedu with Entikong.
Malaysian federal roads are subject to the rural highway standard adopted by Malaysian Public Works Department, ranging from R1 and R1a to R5. R6 standard is exclusive for high-speed expressways with full access control.

Type of federal roads and route number categories

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.

Road design

Rural

Urban

* - Total width of 2-way road

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 - AH2, AH18, AH140, AH141, AH142, AH143, and AH150.
The Malaysian section of Route AH2 consists of:-
The Malaysian section of Route AH18 consists of:-
The Malaysian section of Route AH140 consists of:-
The Malaysian section of Route AH141 consists of:-
The Malaysian section of Route AH142 consists of:-
The Malaysian section of Route AH143 consists of:-
The Malaysian section of Route AH150 consists of:-
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 region - Perlis, Kedah & Pulau PinangTHB Maintenance Sdn. Bhd.
Northern region - PerakBelati Wangsa Sdn Bhd
Central and east coast regionRoadcare Sdn Bhd
Southern regionSelia Selenggara Selatan Sdn Bhd;
Sabah
Lintasan Resources Sdn Bhd
Sarawak
PPES Works Sdn. Bhd; a subsidiary of the Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad Group
Sarawak
HCM Engineering Sdn. Bhd.; a subsidiary of the Protasco Berhad
Sarawak
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 ; however, a lower speed limit of 80 km/h 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. 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 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 are banned from using roads, highways and expressways during festive seasons. A massive nationwide operation known as Ops Selamat are held annually by the Malaysian police to ensure safety on all roads in Malaysia during festive seasons.

Automated Enforcement System

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

Type of AES

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

External links