Length 1,000 m Opened 1923 | Total length 1 km | |
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Maintained by MalaysiaPLUS Malaysia Berhad(Projek Lebuhraya Usahasama Berhad)SingaporeLand Transport Authority (LTA) Carries Motor vehicle, Single-track railway | ||
The Johor–Singapore Causeway (Chinese: 新柔长堤, Malay: Tambak Johor) is a 1056-metre causeway that links the city of Johor Bahru in Malaysia across the Straits of Johor to the town of Woodlands in Singapore. It serves as a road and rail link, as well as water piping into Singapore.
Contents
- Map of Johor Causeway 80300 Johor Bahru Malaysia
- Attempts to have the Causeway replaced
- Road Charges
- References
Map of Johor Causeway, 80300 Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Attempts to have the Causeway replaced
There were several calls by the Malaysians to remove the Causeway. The first call occurred in the Johor state legislative council when the speaker said that the Causeway was "more a hindrance than anything else" while a port should be built close to Johor Bahru to rejuvenate the city's economy. The state of Johor currently already has developed ports including Pasir Gudang and Tanjong Pelapas.
The second demand came in year 1986 when Israeli President Chaim Herzog visited Singapore. At that time, the Singapore Government was criticised by Malaysian politicians and the press for allowing his visit.
Under the former Mahathir administration, the Malaysian government scheduled to build a new customs, immigration and quarantine complex on a hilltop near the Johor Bahru railway station. A bridge was planned to link the new customs complex with the city square. The project was named Southern Integrated Gateway (Gerbang Selatan Bersepadu) by the government. The project was awarded to a construction company, Gerbang Perdana. During the construction, one of the two underpass channels located at the end of the old customs complex had been blocked. Roads exiting from the old customs complex have been diverted. The design envisages a re-direction of traffic flow to the new customs complex after the completion of the proposed new bridge to Singapore. The old customs complex will be torn down once the new customs complex begins operation. All this while, no agreement had been reached with the Singapore Government on replacing the causeway with a proposed new bridge.
The proposals on replacing the old causeway with a new bridge has resulted in a political rift between the two countries since the early 2000s. The Malaysian government envisioned that disagreement by Singapore to participate in the project would result in a crooked bridge above Malaysian waters with half the causeway remaining on the Singapore side. However, Singapore has hinted that it might agree to a bridge if its air force is allowed to use part of Johor's airspace. Malaysia refused the offer and negotiation is said to be still ongoing.
In January 2006, Malaysia unilaterally announced that it is going ahead to build the new bridge on the Malaysian side, now referred to as scenic bridge. The construction of the new scenic bridge on Malaysian side officially began on 10 March 2006, when the piling works of this bridge was completed, but on 12 April 2006, construction was halted and scrapped by Mahathir's successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, with growing complications in both negotiation (the conditions set by Singapore were strongly opposed by the people of Malaysia on grounds of national sovereignty) and legal matters with Singapore.
Most recently, Badawi has said that "in [the] future, there won't be just one or two bridges between Malaysia and Singapore."
In early November 2006, the Sultan of Johor called for the demolition of the link, reasoning that the Causeway is undermining the state economy.
Road Charges
VEP charges for Foreign-Registered Vehicles