Like other big cities, Kuala Lumpur is crisscrossed with major roads. Some are accessible to cyclists. Others increasingly less so.
Over the years, several popular cycling roads in and around the city have been closed to cyclists.
The LATAR Expressway (E25), or Lebuhraya Assamjawa Taman Rimba Expressway, links Templer’s Park in Gombak district to Ijok in Kuala Selangor district. LATAR opened in 2011.
LATAR became popular with cyclists after the Guthrie Corridor Expressway (E35) opened in 2015. The motorcycle lanes of the GCE provide easy access from Bukit Jelutong to the Kuang Interchange with LATAR. Most cyclists headed west on LATAR to Kundang, Puncak Alam and further afield to Ijok and Kuala Selangor. Cyclists could also ride east to Rawang.
These were the toll rates when LATAR opened. It was free for bicycles.
My friends and I rode along LATAR many times. Including at the start of a ride to Teluk Intan in 2016.
Rides on LATAR ended in 2020, when the highway concessionaire, KL-Kuala Selangor Expressway Berhad, banned cycling on safety grounds.
The Maju Expressway (E20) opened in 2007. MEX links Kuala Lumpur with Cyberjaya and Putrajaya.
MEX gave me easy access to the motorcycle lanes on the KESAS Highway (E5) via the Bukit Jalil Interchange. Those motorcycle lanes took me from Bukit Jalil to Bandar Sunway, Kota Kemuning, Bandar Botanic and Federal Route 5.
MEX was also free for bicycles when it opened.
My friends and I rode the full length of MEX a few times, including in 2018. MEX was the starting leg of rides south to Port Dickson and Melaka.
The concessionaire, Maju Expressway Sdn Bhd, banned cyclists from MEX in 2020. At about the same time that cyclists were banned from LATAR.
The latest highway concessionaire to ban cyclists is Sistem Penyuraian Trafik KL Barat Sdn Bhd (SPRINT). In their case, from the SPRINT Highway (E23).
SPRINT has three parts. The Kerinchi Link and the Damansara Link were opened in 2001, followed by the Penchala Link in 2004.
A favourite route of mine is from home through Bukit Tunku to Sri Hartamas to Damansara Heights. I ride on the Kerinchi Link and Damansara Link from the Sri Hartamas interchange (2303) to the Jalan Setiapuspa exit and the back roads to Damansara Heights.
Last Sunday at about 7:30 am, I was on the Kerinchi Link about 200 metres from the Sri Hartamas interchange. Two SPRINT Auxiliary Police officers on motorbikes, blue lights flashing, saw me from the other side of the highway. They made a U-turn at the Sri Hartamas interchange, caught up to me, and flagged me down.
The officer was very polite. He apologised while telling me that cyclists are prohibited on the SPRINT Highway. So I had to exit at the Pusat Sains Negara Interchange (E2305) and climb the Science Centre hill. The hill that I avoid by riding to the Jalan Setiapuspa exit.
This ban will be hard on cyclists who live in Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) and Bandar Utama. Since Jalan Bukit Kiara 1, along the edge of the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club (in red below), was closed, the only way cyclists had of getting from TTDI and Bandar Utama to Bukit Damansara and other popular cycling spots further east was either along the Damansara Link or the Penchala Link.
Those options are now not available. That means no more cycling from TTDI and Bandar Utama to Damansara Heights.
I am stuck too. I can get to Damansara Heights via Jalan Parlimen, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim and Jalan Semantan. However, that requires crossing multiple lanes of traffic before turning left onto Jalan Semantan. That is much more dangerous than using the Kerinchi Link and the Damansara Link, where all the turns are to the left and do not require crossing lanes.
I may have to drive my bicycle to Damansara Heights from now on.
Old Roots, New Routes 