Path of relief: Many are awaiting the revival of the shortcut as it would allow pedestrians to reach the CIQ faster. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
JOHOR BARU: Pedestrians, especially those working in Singapore, are eagerly awaiting good news from the state government regarding the long-awaited reopening of the shortcut to the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex here.
Some have also reached out to Johor state works, transportation, infrastructure and communication committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh through his Facebook page to show their support for efforts to reopen the shortcut.Security officer Mathius Matthew, 26, said that it would only take him about 15 minutes to walk from his apartment at Jalan Stulang Darat to the CIQ via the shortcut.
“Now that the shortcut is closed, I have to walk for about 30 minutes under the hot sun to get to the CIQ.
“If the main concern is safety, then we are already risking our lives anyway walking along a busy, longer route.
“In fact, it may even be safer for us to use the shortcut as the distance is far shorter,” said Matthew, who travels daily to Singapore.
He added that it would make more sense for the state government to provide a pedestrian bridge or zebra crossing instead of shuttle buses.
“I am glad that they are planning to provide shuttle buses as a last resort.
“(But) most of us spend more than half our day working and travelling to Singapore.
“We do not have the time nor patience to wait for 30 to 40 minutes for a bus to pick us up when we could just walk,” he added.
Engineer Andrew Tan, 29, echoed his sentiment, adding that the shortcut could also solve some of the parking problems in Johor Baru town.
“There are several underutilised parking areas along Jalan Inderaputra and Jalan Ah Siang, while the lack of car park space in Johor Baru town is worsening.
“If the shortcut is reopened, I believe we can see some improvements to the parking problem as people could park away from town and walk to the CIQ,” he said.Meanwhile, Mohamad Fazli said efforts to look into the reopening of the shortcut are still ongoing and updates would be available later.
The Star had reported that the state government is in the midst of coming out with a “concept design” to allow its reopening.
“Once we have the concept design, we will also need to look into the safety aspects to see whether it is safe for pedestrians to use the shortcut.
“We will then need to bring the idea to the Immigration Department and the Home Ministry so that they can give their say on the matter.
“Only then can we finalise the design,” Mohamad Fazli had told The Star after visiting the shortcut area last month.
“Previously, we also considered providing shuttle buses.
“However, we later found that the idea is not viable, as it would take a very long time for the buses to pick up and drop off pedestrians due to heavy congestion,” he said.
The Star previously highlighted that thousands of pedestrians, including pregnant women and senior citizens, had asked for the shortcut to be reopened.
The shortcut, near Hako Hotel along Jalan Lingkaran Dalam here, is a convenient walking path to the CIQ complex.
Since it was closed during the pandemic, pedestrians have to walk about 1.5km around the building to enter the immigration clearance area.
