Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Genting Sempah – Genting Highlands Highway

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Existed:
  
1965 – present

Downhill end:
  
Genting Sempah

Constructed
  
1965

Summit end:
  
Genting Highlands

Length
  
25 km

History:
  
Access road completed in 1969, with further construction during 2001-2005

Primary destinations:
  
Genting Highlands Gohtong Jaya Institut Aminuddin Baki Genting Sempah Batang Kali Ulu Yam

The Genting Sempah-Genting Highlands Highway is a main highway from Genting Sempah to Genting Highlands, Malaysia's famous mountain resort and entertainment parks. This is a private highway owned by Genting Berhad. The speed limit of the highway is 50 km/h (31 mph).

Contents

Route background

The Genting Sempah-Genting Highlands Highway begins at the downhill Genting Sempah. Its terminus (Kilometre Zero) is at Genting Highlands summit.

History

The Genting Sempah-Genting Highlands Highway was used to be a private highway owned by Genting Highlands Resort. Construction of the access road to Genting Highlands began on 18 August 1965 and would take four years to complete the access road from Genting Sempah to the peak of Mount Ulu Kali. The access road finally opened on 31 March 1969 in conjunction with the official laying of the foundation stone for the Genting Hotel (the then Highlands Hotel) by the then first Malaysian Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj. In the year 2001, a new bypass Chin Swee Bypass which was designed as a downhill route from the summit to the downhill Chin Swee Temple was constructed and was completed in 2005. The construction of the new bypass was regarded as one of the most astonishing engineering project in Malaysia. Since 1989, there are many serious accidents are rare on the relatively well-maintained roads leading to the area's main resorts.

Notable events

  • 18 August 1965 – Construction of the access road to Genting Highlands began.
  • 31 March 1969 – The access road to Genting Highlands was opened.
  • 30 June 1995 – 20 people were killed in the landslide at Genting Highlands slip road near Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway.
  • 16 July 1996 – A bus, ferrying a group of factory workers and their families on a holiday excursion, plunged into a 120m-deep ravine at Km 1 of the Genting Sempah-Genting Highlands Highway near the Genting Highlands Resort, killing 17 of them. Six were children.
  • 5 June 2004 – A retired businessman was killed when the bus he was skidded overturned and crashed at Km 16 Genting Sempah-Genting Highlands Highway near Sri Layang roundabout.
  • 31 March 2005 – A bus negotiating the sharp corner at Km 18 of the Genting Sempah-Genting Highlands Highway at Gohtong Jaya roundabout skidded, hit the divider and landed on its side while coming down Genting Highlands. Fifteen passengers were injured.
  • 13 April 2006 – A landslide occurred at 11 p.m. at Km 3.8 of the Genting Sempah-Genting Highlands Highway. The landslide at the new Chin Swee Bypass to Genting Highlands two days ago caused soil and boulders to cover the road, making it inaccessible to traffic. No one was apparently hurt.
  • 22 September 2009 – Genting Malaysia Berhad has announced that soil erosion occurred at Km 3.3 of a downhill road at the Genting Highlands Resort at 3.20am today. No one was apparently hurt.
  • 29 October 2010 – Seven people were killed and more than 20 injured when the bus they were travelling in crashed at the Genting Sempah-Genting Highlands Highway slip roads of the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Expressway near Genting Sempah.
  • 21 October 2011 – A man suffered light injuries when the front of his car was hit by a landslide at Km 13.9 of the Genting Sempah-Genting Highlands Highway near Genting Highlands
  • 21 August 2013 – At least 37 people were killed and 16 others injured when the bus carrying 53 passengers crashed into ravine at Km 3.5 of the Genting Sempah-Genting Highlands Highway near Chin Swee Temple, Genting Highlands, Pahang. It was the worst road disasters in Malaysian history.
  • 18 November 2014 – A landslide, caused by heavy rain, forced the closure of the Km 4.2 of the Genting Sempah-Genting Highlands Highway heading towards Genting Highlands.

    • Dangerous curves

    At least six spots along the 18 km road leading down from Genting Highlands have recorded horrific accident area involving buses and other heavy vehicles since 1989. 10% steep gradients, sharp bends and less-than-ideal road conditions can make it difficult for heavy vehicles to manoeuvre, and odds of losing control, skidding off the road and crashing, are high. (Source: New Straits Times, 23 August 2013)

    Separated one-way roads

    The one-way road (formerly original dual-carriageway highway) from Chin Swee Temple designed for climbing route to the summit, while the other one-way road from the summit designed for downhill route to Chin Swee Temple.

    Emergency escape ramp

    The emergency escape ramp are also provided here especially on the one way downhill Genting Sempah bound. This emergency escape ramp that enables vehicles that are having braking problems to safely stop. It is typically a long, sand or gravel-filled lane adjacent to a road with a steep grade, and is designed to accommodate large heavy vehicles. The deep gravel allows the heavy vehicles momentum to be dissipated in a controlled and relatively harmless way, allowing the operator to stop it safely.

    Viaducts at Chin Swee Bypass

    Viaducts at downhill road of Chin Swee Bypass leading Genting Sempah bound.

    Le Tour de Langkawi

    Genting Highlands serve as the finish point of a stage in the Tour de Langkawi cycling race. It is one of the longest (30 km) climbs featured in a cycling event.

    Genting Highlands Old Roads

    (Climbing route, One-way Genting Highlands bound)

    Chin Swee Bypass

    (Downhill route, One-way Genting Sempah bound)

    References

    Genting Sempah – Genting Highlands Highway Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA