PENAMPANG: The Pan Borneo Highway connecting Putatan and Inanam, which is expected to alleviate high traffic volumes in the city centre, is nearly 80 per cent completed, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
The road, a dual carriageway spanning 21.7km which includes a 2.1km stretch to Bukit Padang, will enable road users to travel from Putatan to Inanam without going through the Kota Kinabalu city.
The project is the sixth of 35 Work Packages under Phase One of the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway project worth RM788,379,040.72, and is expected to be completed by November this year. So far, it is 79.96 per cent completed.
Earlier Thursday, Hajiji was briefed on the progress of the project by State Public Works Department Deputy Director (Pan Borneo Highway Sector) Mohd Shamsul Nizam Abdul Wahid at the construction site of the sixth work package, here.
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The project includes the construction of three new bridges crossing Sungai Moyog, a dry bridge at Kampung Kolopis, three vehicular box culverts in Kg Kolopis and Kg Kitobu.
It also includes seven new interchanges at Putatan, Jalan NC Mogunting 1, Jalan NC Mogunting 2, Donggongon, Jalan Penampang Tambunan and Bukit Padang, in addition to the 2.1km spur road to Bukit Padang.
As of December 31, 2023, four work packages have been completed, namely the Papar-Donggongon road, Tawau-Semporna road, Lahad Datu bypass and Kampung Lot M-Sandakan Mile 32 road.
Another 11 work packages are still in progress while five work packages are under procurement process, and another 15 work packages are yet to take off under Phase 1B.
The 1,236km Sabah Pan Borneo Highway project is being implemented in three phases, namely Phase 1: Sindumin-Kota Kinabalu-Kudat; Ranau-Mile 32 Sandakan; Mile 32 Sandakan-Tawau (706km); Phase 2: Tamparuli-Ranau (98km) and Phase 3: Tawau-Kalabakan-Keningau-Kimanis (432km).
Shahelemy explained that the sixth package is part of the Kota Kinabalu Outer Ring road construction involving three packages, namely the sixth, seventh and eighth. “Package 6 starts from Putatan and ends in Inanam, followed by Package 7 from Inanam to the Tebobon, Menggatal intersection.
From here, Package 8 ends at the Berungis, Tuaran roundabout.
“Once the Kota Kinabalu Outer Ring road is completed, it will alleviate traffic volumes where those from the north can travel south, and vice versa, without going through Kota Kinabalu city,” he told reporters after the briefing session at the construction site.
On the remaining 11 work packages still underway, Shahelmey said it would be completed in stages, with some being completed by year end and the remaining sometime mid next year.
“There are some restraints. Other than shortage of raw material such as bitumen, there is also a need to reposition utilities (that are in the way of construction), such as water pipes, telecommunication cables and SESB cables,” he said.
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