Kuala Lumpur–Karak Expressway

Expressway 8
Expressway 8
Kuala Lumpur–Karak Expressway; Lebuhraya Kuala Lumpur–Karak
	Route map
Route information
	Part of AH141
	Maintained by ANIH Berhad
Length	60 km (37 mi)
Existed	1974–present
History	Completed in 1979
Major junctions
Southwest end	Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 2 at Gombak, Selangor
	Jalan Gombak–Bentong; Kuala Lumpur–Kota Bharu Highway; Jalan Kuantan–Kuala Lumpur
Northeast end	East Coast Expressway at Karak, Pahang
Location
Primary; destinations	Gombak, Genting Highlands, Bukit Tinggi, Bentong, Karak
Highway system
	Highways in Malaysia; Expressways; Federal; State;

The Kuala Lumpur–Karak Expressway^[1] is a 60-kilometre (37 mi) interstate controlled-access highway in Peninsular Malaysia. It runs between the town of Gombak in Selangor to the southwest and Karak in Pahang to the northeast. The expressway was previously a single-carriageway trunk road forming part of federal route 2; this designation is kept after the upgrade in 1997.

There are some popular legends and folklore about this Expressway. (See also : Haunted highway § E8 Expressway, Malaysia)

Route description[]

The expressway begins at Gombak, Selangor and its interchange with the Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 2. Next, the expressway passes the Titiwangsa Range and the Genting Sempah Tunnel towards Genting Sempah at the border with Pahang.

The section between Bentong and Karak is the sole route from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan and vice versa, as Jalan Gombak, which serves as the toll-free alternative for the expressway, ends at Ketari, Bentong. At Karak, route 2 splits off, heading southeast towards the town proper while the expressway heads northeast to meet the East Coast Expressway.

History[]

Two-lane federal highway[]

Kuala Lumpur–Karak Highway was originally built in the 1970s by the government of Malaysia as an alternative for the winding, narrow route 68 which runs from Gombak in Kuala Lumpur to Bentong, Pahang. The highway is also a part of route 2. The highway included a 900-metre tunnel at Genting Sempah, which became Malaysia's first highway tunnel ever constructed. It was officially opened in 1979 by Minister of Works and Communications that time .

However, the cost of the construction of this highway was considered as expensive for Malaysia which at that time was an agricultural country. Therefore, the government decided to make Kuala Lumpur–Karak Highway as a toll road to help cover all the construction works. As a result, two toll gates were constructed at Gombak and Bentong and the toll road was administered under Malaysian Highway Authority. The highway was officially opened to traffic in 1977.

Signage indicating approaching exit to Bukit Tinggi, Pahang

Multi-lane expressway[]

The importance of Kuala Lumpur–Karak Highway as the main road from Kuala Lumpur to eastern states of Peninsular Malaysia resulted in the government's decision to upgrade the highway to a multi-lane expressway by duplicating the whole highway stretch at another side. Thus, the former two-lane highway become a dual-carriageway with six lanes (three in each direction) from Kuala Lumpur to Genting Highlands exit and four lanes (two in each direction) for the rest of the expressway.

The upgrading works also included the construction of a second tunnel located beside the existing tunnel to provide additional two lanes for eastbound traffic, widening the toll gates at Gombak and Bentong and also constructing interchanges to replace junctions. However, some junctions were impossible to be upgraded to interchanges due to their geographical locations and therefore some U-turns were constructed to provide entry and exit to the junction for the opposite direction of the expressway. The expressway has two separate carriageway at Genting Sempah in Selangor–Pahang border (one for Selangor side and one for Pahang side) due to their geographical locations. The upgrade works of the expressway was completed in 1997.

MTD Prime held the concession to operate the expressway. The expressway acquired its official route number, E8, at completion, which resulted in overlapping route numbers. As a result, some maps labelled the expressway as E8 and some other maps labelled the expressway as federal route 2.

On 7 April 2011, ANIH Berhad became the concession holder after taking over operations from MTD Prime Sdn Bhd and Metramac Corporation Sdn Bhd.

Major events[]

28 January 1990 – 17 people including 11 FRU riot police personal were killed in a collision between Federal Reserve Unit riot police vehicles, a tanker lorry, a passenger bus and 10 cars at kilometre 32.5 of the highway not far from Genting Sempah Tunnel in Gombak, Selangor.
11 November 2015 – A landslide has occurred at km 52.4 of the Kuala Lumpur–Karak Expressway between Lentang and Bukit Tinggi, Pahang due to heavy rains. The Lentang–Bukit Tinggi stretch of the expressway was closed to traffic.

Junction list[]

State	District	Location	km	Exit	Name	Destinations	Notes
Selangor	Gombak	Gombak	18.0	–	Gombak	( AH141) Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 2 – Klang, Seremban, Ampang, Ipoh, Petaling Jaya, Kuala Lumpur
			19.9	Gombak toll plaza (barrier system)
			20.0	Gombak layby (eastbound)
			21.80	Gombak layby (westbound)
		Batu 12		Gombak River bridge
		Genting Sempah	36.57	803A	Genting Sempah	Genting Sempah–Genting Highlands Highway – Genting Highlands	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance only
Selangor–Pahang border				Genting Sempah tunnel
Pahang	Bentong		38.30	803	Genting Sempah	Jalan Gombak–Bentong – Genting Sempah, Genting Highlands, Janda Baik
			38.30	Genting Sempah rest and service area (both directions; combined)
		Bukit Tinggi	43.0	–	–	Unnamed road – Bukit Tinggi, Janda Baik
		–	48.00	805	Bukit Tinggi	Jalan Berjaya Hills Resort – Berjaya Hills Resort
		–	51.50	Lentang layby (both directions; combined)
		–	61.71	Bentong toll plaza (barrier system)
		–	62.10	Bentong layby (westbound)
		–	62.40	808	Bentong West	Jalan Gombak–Bentong – Bentong, Raub, Kuala Lipis	Eastbound entrance and exit only
		–		809	Central Spine Road	Central Spine Road – Bentong, Raub, Gua Musang Pelangai
		Bentong	66.80	810	Bentong East	Federal route 8 – Bentong, Raub, Kuala Lipis
		Karak		813	Karak	Jalan Kuantan–Kuala Lumpur – Karak 1498 Jalan Mempaga – Kampung Cinta Manis, Sertik, FELDA Mempaga	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance only Eastern terminus of concurrency with route 2
Through to ( AH141) East Coast Expressway
1.000 km = 0.621 mi; 1.000 mi = 1.609 km Concurrency terminus Incomplete access Unopened

References[]

^ 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.

External links[]

ANIH Berhad – concession holder of Karak Expressway
Malaysian Highway Authority
Exit lists of Karak Expressway

[asean-highway-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.

[1]

v t Malaysian Expressway System
Interstate	North–South (northern) North–South (southern) Central Link Kuala Lumpur–Karak East Coast Kajang–Seremban # West Coast ^ Paroi–Senawang–KLIA ^ Jelas ^ Perlis–Langkawi Bridge
Greater Kuala Lumpur/ Klang Valley and Selangor	New Klang Valley Shah Alam Cheras–Kajang Sungai Besi New Pantai Damansara–Puchong Ampang–Kuala Lumpur Kemuning–Shah Alam Kajang Dispersal Link # Sungai Besi–Ulu Klang Maju Sprint Kuala Lumpur–Kuala Selangor South Klang Valley # East Klang Valley New North Klang Straits Bypass # Damansara–Shah Alam Duta–Ulu Klang Guthrie Corridor East–West Link Kuala Lumpur–Seremban SMART Tunnel # Setiawangsa-Pantai ^
Greater Penang	Butterworth–Kulim Butterworth Outer Ring Second Bridge Penang Bridge * Penang Outer Ring * Penang Undersea Tunnel
Johor	Second Link Eastern Dispersal Link Senai–Desaru ^ Johor Bahru–Pasir Gudang
Elsewhere	Seremban–Port Dickson ^ Malacca Strait Bridge ^ South Kedah
#: under construction, ^: planned, *: cancelled/postponed/on hold