THE old Woodlands checkpoint, largely abandoned almost a decade ago, will fully re-open to trucks and lorries next month to ease pressure on the current crossing.
Officials also said yesterday that by March next year, more lanes will be opened to motorcycles, some 32,000 of which stream across the border from Johor every day.
"This may lead to a faster flow of traffic along the Causeway...and translate into spin-off benefits such as smoother checkpoint clearance for other vehicles like cars during peak periods," said Mr Nam Liang Chia, the commander of the Woodlands Command.
The old crossing was closed in 1999, after the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) opened the towering facility that now processes travellers between Singapore and Malaysia. Designed to handle about 35 million vehicles annually, it cleared over 48 million last year ? about 130,000 per day.
Now, only Malaysia-bound trucks are allowed to use the old checkpoint, and they are restricted to the peak hours between 3pm and 10pm. Motorcycles have been using 10 lanes there since last year.
But that is about to change. Come next month, the checkpoint will be open to trucks in both directions. In March, the facility will also be able to accommodate more Singapore-bound motorcycles.
The ICA will spend up to $2 million to refurbish the old checkpoint, said its director of operations, Mr Bhopinder Singh. When the project is completed, heavy vehicles will have 10 clearance counters ? up from the current six.
By next year, the counters for motorcycles will be increased from the current 50 to 70 in total.
To cope with the traffic, the ICA will recruit over 100 officers to man the crossings. Officials will consider opening the old checkpoint to cars, but that could be some time away. Mr Singh said the ICA will assess the impact of the re-opening for between six and 18 months before deciding on cars.
At the current checkpoint, waiting times can reach 90 minutes for trucks, 75 minutes for motorcycles and 15 minutes for cars. Officials are not yet sure how much time the opening of the old checkpoint will shave off journeys.
Malaysia's new Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex, which is due to open next month, should also help ease congestion woes, Mr Nam said.
Many lorry drivers, such as Mr Chan Eng Weng, 47, welcomed the re-opening of the old checkpoint.
"Being stuck in a jam is no joke. You just sit in the truck, wait, and do nothing. With more counters open, hopefully I can be out of the queue in 30 minutes," he said in Hokkien.
Meanwhile, the ICA had been working with residents in Marsiling and Woodlands, who live near the checkpoints, to address concerns about increased traffic.
Mr Cheong Khim Teck, 60, who chairs the Marsiling Citizens Consultative Committee, said in Mandarin: "With more vehicles, there will be more noise and air pollution. It was good that the authorities have reassured us and said they might look into building barriers along the roads to reduce the noise."
Read also: Motorists welcome old checkpoint
This article was first published in The Straits Times on Nov 22, 2008.
