West Coast Expressway (WCE) has just opened Section 11 (Beruas to Taiping Selatan), which marks the completion of the entire Perak portion of its highway. To celebrate the milestone, WCE is offering toll-free travel between Taiping Selatan and Beruas for a limited time. The WCE highway acts as an alternative route to the North-South Expressway (PLUS) and here’s what you need to know if you’re planning to travel between Kuala Lumpur and Penang.
What are the advantages of using WCE?
The North-South Expressway is the major backbone for interstate travel on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The Kuala Lumpur to Penang route is one of the busiest and it can get congested during the festive holiday season. WCE is meant to complement PLUS to alleviate traffic congestion and the route allows direct travel up north to Taiping without going through Ipoh.
Another advantage of WCE is that the route is said to be less hilly. This makes WCE perfect for heavy vehicles transporting goods from Lumut Port, Klang Port, West Port and also KLIA, once WCE from Banting is completed. With fewer hills and slopes, driving through WCE should be smoother with less climbing, resulting in better fuel efficiency. Besides bypassing Ipoh, the route also lets you skip the steep section by the Menora Tunnel.
How to get on WCE if you’re travelling from KL to Taiping or Penang?
If you’re driving up north to Taiping or Penang via PLUS, you can exit at Rawang Selatan Toll Plaza into LATAR Expressway towards Jalan Kuala Selangor – Teluk Intan.
On this route, you’ll join WCE at the Hutan Melintang interchange as shown above. Just continue driving northbound and follow the signs along WCE until you reach WCE’s Taiping Selatan Interchange.
If you’re going to Penang, just head towards PLUS’ Changkat Jering toll plaza and continue northbound. If you’re continuing your journey to Taiping, just follow the blue signs for directions to Taiping.
For a better idea, you can follow the Google Map routes below:
However, take note that the final section by Google Maps still recommends the old road between Beruas and Changkat Jering. The recommended WCE routes by Google Maps and Waze might take a while to reflect as Section 11 of WCE is still new. Hopefully, both apps will include the WCE route before the upcoming Raya holiday season.
Highway users travelling southbound from Penang, Alor Setar and Taiping can also enter WCE from the Taiping Selatan Interchange. On PLUS, just exit at Changkat Jering toll plaza and enter WCE via the Taiping Selatan Toll Plaza. As mentioned by Works Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi, it takes less than 5 minutes for PLUS highway users to enter WCE via the Changkat Jering intersection.
Some parts of WCE include federal roads
Take note that some sections of WCE’s route are federal roads which are upgraded and managed by JKR. In Perak, the section between Teluk Intan and Kampung Lekir Interchange is part of Federal Route 5. The same situation can be found in the Selangor section of WCE where the portion between Hutan Melintang and Tanjung Karang is also a federal road.
On federal roads, the traffic conditions are different and you’ll have to pay extra attention as you drive through populated areas with various junctions and intersections. If you’re driving an EV, take note that there are no chargers along the WCE highway at the moment but there are plans to deploy them at R&R areas.
Where to enjoy toll-free on WCE?
To recap, the toll-free travel on WCE only covers Section 11, which covers a distance of 35.5km from Taiping Selatan to Beruas. According to WCE, this new section can cut travel time between Changkat Jering and Beruas from 55 minutes to just 20 minutes.
The toll-free offer is only available for two months from 12th March until 11th May 2024.
Toll is still applicable for other sections of WCE. The toll fare from Lekir to Beruas costs RM7.90, while Hutan Melintang to Teluk Intan costs RM2.90.
WCE’s Selangor portion is still not completed yet
WCE is a 314.5km highway that starts from Banting in Selangor and ends at Taiping Selatan. The Selangor portion is still a work in progress and only selected sections such as Bukit Raja Selatan to Assam Jawa (Sections 5 and 6) are open.
Section 1 (Banting – SKVE), Section 2 (SKVE – SAE), and Section 11 (Beruas – Taiping Selatan) are expected to be opened this year. Meanwhile, Section 3 and Section 4 (SAE – NKVE/FHR2) are expected to be completed by mid-2025.
As of 12th March 2024, WCE has reported that Section 1 (Banting to SKVE) is 98% completed, followed by Section 2 (SKVE to SAE) at 97% completed and Section 3 (SAE to NKVE) at 85% completed. Meanwhile, Section 4 (NKVE to FHR2) is 99% completed and Section 7 (Assam Jawa to Tanjung Karang) is only 69% completed.
For more info, you can visit WCE’s website.
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