MOTORISTS using the Bandar Mahkota Cheras intersection are now all smiles due to the hassle-free drive.

Following Works Minister Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed's visit to the site on June 4, the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) and Cheras-Kajang Highway concessionaire Grand Saga Sdn Bhd were instructed to resurface the road and install more traffic lights.

Traffic still builds up at the intersection bypassing the 11th Mile Cheras toll plaza during peak hours but the flow is smoother now due to the better road condition with six additional traffic lights to synchronise the flow.

Resurfacing was required because the access road built for the Bandar Mahkota Cheras township was damaged by concrete barricades built by Grand Saga. This caused motorists approaching the intersection to slow down but the situation is different now.

The intersection made headlines recently when Bandar Mahkota Cheras residents kept demolishing the barricades built by Grand Saga.

On May 30, the Federal Government intervened by stating that the road should remain open until a court decision on the case between Grand Saga and township developer Narajaya Sdn Bhd.

With the road now declared open for the time being, motorists from the township and neighbouring Bandar Sungai Long are a heaving sigh of relief.

Bandar Mahkota Cheras resident Suraya Haris Ong said the travelling time to work had been cut by 30 minutes.

"I work in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, and used to spend time waiting at the T-junction connecting Bandar Mahkota Cheras to Bandar Sungai Long. Then, there is the additional time to get to the highway," she said.

"I save all this time by simply heading out from my house to the intersection and then getting on to the highway. Coming back is also a breeze although there is traffic during peak hours,"she added.

A motorist, who only identified herself as Ling, said she used to wake up her son at 5.30am just to get him to school in Bandar Tun Hussein on time. She said both of them were now happy because they could spend another 30 minutes in bed.

Bandar Mahkota Cheras Open Access Road Committee chairman Tan Boon Wah, when contacted, said residents would be more jubilant if the Government declared the road permanently open.

"If you look at it from all angles, residents should not be the ones caught in the tussle between the developer and highway concessionaire, Basically, it is an issue involving compensation, dollars and sen," he said.