By Zaki Salleh
Credit Photo: Alamy
IPOH: The significant increase in the number of vehicles approaching the festive season is believed to have caused severe congestion on several main roads in the city of Ipoh.
The congestion, particularly during midday until evening, is believed to be due to many individuals making last-minute preparations for the Chinese New Year celebration.
Among the main congested routes are around Ipoh city such as Jalan Dato’ Onn Jaafar, Jalan Laksamana, Jalan Sultan Idris Shah, Jalan Raja Musa Aziz, and Jalan Sultan Iskandar.
Apart from the volume of vehicles, road congestion is also caused by the selfish behavior of some drivers stopping on the roadside.
Most of them stop solely to visit nearby shops and run their errands.
Not only vehicles with out-of-state registration plates but also those with local registration plates engage in the same behavior.
The situation worsens when there is no authority conducting patrols or control, leading to the roadside becoming a temporary parking space.
Severe congestion also occurs on the entrance road to the Ipoh KTMB Station as vehicles have to queue up long lines to enter the station.
This is especially the case during train arrivals because many vehicles come to pick up passengers returning from vacation.
This situation also makes it difficult for the public coming to deal with the Ipoh Main Post Office besides having to scramble to find parking spots.
A reader of Ipoh Echo/ Peraktastic known as Mohd Lutfi said, although congestion occurs before the celebration, it should be addressed if there is traffic management planning.
He said the same thing happens during other festive seasons.
“Since yesterday, many roads have been congested. I am very angry with those who like to stop on the roadside, for example, near shops at the Ipoh Central Market.
“They are all selfish. Even though they know there is heavy traffic, they don’t mind stopping while turning on their signal lights.
“If there are patrols by the authorities, they would not dare to do so,” he said.
