Butterworth–Kulim Expressway

Expressway 15
Butterworth-Kulim Expressway

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Butterworth–Kulim Expressway (Peninsular Malaysia)

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Route information
Part of
Maintained by PLUS Malaysia Berhad with its subsidiary Projek Lebuhraya Usahasama Berhad
(Former concessionaries known as Konsortium Lebuhraya Butterworth-Kulim (KLBK) Sdn Bhd)
Length: 17.0 km (10.6 mi)
Existed: 1994 – present
History: Completed in 1996, opened on 15 November 1996
Major junctions
West end: Butterworth, Penang
  E17 1 Butterworth Outer Ring Road
4 Butterworth-Seberang Jaya Toll Road
E1 North-South Expressway Northern Route
136 Federal Route 136
3053 Jalan Kulim Hi-Tech
4 East-West Highway
East end: Lunas, Kedah
Location
Primary
destinations:
Butterworth, Seberang Jaya, Prai, Permatang Pauh, Lunas, Kulim, Baling
Highway system

Butterworth–Kulim Expressway, BKE, E15 (Malay: Lebuhraya Butterworth-Kulim), Asian Highway Route AH140[1] is the only opened toll system's expressway in Penang, Malaysia. The 17 km (11 mi) expressway connects Butterworth, Penang in the west to Lunas, Kedah in the east. It is also a main route to East-West Highway (Federal Route 4) via Baling, Kedah and Gerik, Perak.

Route background

The Butterworth-Kulim Expressway E15 is an east-west oriented expressway and concurrents with the Federal Route 4 and Asian Highway Route AH140 along its entire length. The actual starting point of the expressway is counted as Kilometre 5. Many maps have mistakenly labelled the section between Exit 1501 Kubang Sebang Interchange and Butterworth as a part of the E15 expressway; however, it is incorrect as the remaining 5-km section is not maintained by PLUS Malaysia Berhad but rather by Lingkaran Luar Butterworth (Penang) Sdn. Bhd.[2]

History

The construction of BKE started in December 1994 and was completed in September 1996.

KLBK Sdn Bhd

Konsortium Lebuhraya Butterworth-Kulim (KLBK) Sdn Bhd, commercially known as Buterworth Kulim Expressway (BKE), a wholly owned subsidiary of PLUS Expressway Berhad ("PLUS Expressways",) has been awarded the concession and contract to construct and operate the highway of dual two-lane carriageway with separate motorcycle tracks and related highway facilities for the 16.78 km highway. The concession period is for 32 years (June 1994 to June 2026, including two years construction period), after which the highway will be transferred to the Government. On 2011, the company was taken over to PLUS Malaysia Berhad and its subsidiary Projek Lebuhraya Usahasama Berhad.

Features

Tolls

The Butterworth-Kulim Expressway using opened toll systems.

Electronic Toll Collections (ETC)

As part of an initiative to facilitate faster transaction at the Lunas and Kubang Semang Toll Plazas, all toll transactions at both toll plazas on the Butterworth-Kulim Expressway will be conducted electronically via PLUSMiles, Touch 'n Go cards or SmartTAGs starting 9 September 2015.

Toll rates

Lunas toll plaza

ClassType of vehiclesRate (in Malaysian Ringgit (RM))
0MotorcyclesFree
1Vehicles with 2 axles and 3 or 4 wheels excluding taxisRM 1.60
2Vehicles with 2 axles and 5 or 6 wheels excluding busesRM 3.20
3Vehicles with 3 or more axlesRM 4.80
4TaxisRM 0.80
5BusesRM 1.60

Kubang Semang toll plaza

ClassType of vehiclesRate (in Malaysian Ringgit (RM))
0MotorcyclesFree
1Vehicles with 2 axles and 3 or 4 wheels excluding taxisRM 1.60
2Vehicles with 2 axles and 5 or 6 wheels excluding busesRM 3.20
3Vehicles with 3 or more axlesRM 4.80
4TaxisRM 0.80
5BusesRM 1.60
Note: Toll charges can only be paid with the Touch 'n Go and PLUSMiles cards or SmartTAG. Cash payment is not accepted.

List of interchanges

The Butterworth-Kulim Expressway is a 4-lane dual-carriageway expressway with its speed limit for the entire section is 90 km/h except at Seberang Jaya-Kubang Semang toll plaza section and Lunas toll plaza-Sungai Seluang section where the speed limit is 60 km/h.

Legend:

State District km Exit Name Destinations Notes
Through to 4 Butterworth–Seberang Jaya Toll Road
Penang Seberang Perai Tengah 5.0 1501 Permatang Pauh I/C
P7
Penang State Route P7 – Permatang Pauh, Bukit Mertajam
6.5 T/P Kubang Semang Toll Plaza TnG TAG TAG TnG
BR Sungai Kubang Semang bridge
9.7 1503 Permatang Nibong I/C
P188
Jalan Permatang Nibong – Permatang Nibong, Kubang Semang, Penanti
BR Railway crossing bridge
13.2 1505 Tasik Mengkuang I/C
P129
Penang State Route P129 – Penanti, Berapit, Tasik Mengkuang Dam
16.7 RSA Penanti RSA Penanti RSA - Accessible from both directions
Kedah Kulim 18.5 T/P Lunas Toll Plaza TnG TAG TAG TnG
BR Sungai Kulim bridge
13.2 1507 Lunas I/C 136 Jalan Lunas – Lunas, Kulim, Kuala Ketil
13.2 1508 Lunas I/S
K811
Jalan Sepakat – Sungai Seluang, Sidam, Padang Serai
K812
Jalan Perusahaan – Kulim Industrial Area
Dual 3-way signalised intersection
Through to 4 East-West Highway

References

  1. ERIA Study Team. "Current Status of ASEAN Transport Sector" (PDF). ASEAN Strategic Transport Plan 2011-2015 (Jakarta: ASEAN Secretariat and ERIA): 3–1 – 3–95. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  2. Inventori Rangkaian Jalan Utama Persekutuan Semenanjung Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Ministry of Works. 2009. ISBN 978-983-44278-2-5.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, February 20, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.