East–West Highway (Malaysia)

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Federal Route 4
Length	-- km kilometres ({{{length-mi}}} miles)
Direction	West - East
Start	Gerik, Perak
Main destinations	Temenggor Lake Tanah Merah Kota Bharu Pasir Puteh
End	Jeli, Kelantan
Construction Began	1967
Construction End	1980
Roads joined	Federal Route 76 Federal Route 205 Federal Route 66
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East-West Highway, Federal Route (Malay: Lebuhraya Timur-Barat) is a highway constructed by Malaysian Public Works Department (JKR) to shorten the journey from Kota Bharu, Kelantan to northwestern towns and cities of Malaysia such as Alor Star and Penang. Before East-West Highway was built, the journey from Alor Star to Kota Bharu may reach over 1,000 km (-- miles), but the highway shortens the distance by about several hundred kilometers. The highway includes Lake Temenggor Bridge which crosses Temenggor Lake, a hydroelectric dam. The East-West Highway is one of the more scenic routes in Peninsular Malaysia, due to its hilly nature. There are even places where road signs are put up to warn motorists of elephants crossing the road.

[edit] History

The East-West Highway was built in the 1967 as a defence-related highway. In the early stages, there was military presence in every kilometre. The road was built to cut off the Communist Party of Malaya from the safe havens in Thailand. During construction, the highway was sabotaged by the Communist terrorists during the Communist insurgency from 1967 to 1980. Many of workers were killed and the buildozers was seriously damaged. The East-West Highway was put under strict security control by Malaysian army when the highway was opened. Motorists were allowed to use the highway at daytime only due to security reasons. The military control of the highway was lifted after the insurgency war was ended in 1989.

The Malaysian Public Works Department (JKR) monument was erected in Pulau Banding near the Lake Temenggor Bridge on 1982 to commemorates those who died during construction of the East-West Highway and lake bridge.

[edit] List of junctions and towns

Km	Exit	Interchanges/Junctions	To	Remarks
0		GERIK (North) Kampung Bahru Batu Dua	NORTH Sungai Petani Baling Pengkalan Hulu SOUTH Kuala Kangsar Lenggong	Town centre T-Junctions
EAST-WEST HIGHWAY Start/End of highway
		Kuala Rui	SOUTHEAST A171 JALAN TEMENGGOR Kampung Bendang Riang Kampung Basia Lama Temenggor Dam	T-junctions
		Lake Temenggor Bridge Lake Temenggor
		PULAU BANDING Lake Temenggor	PULAU BANDING Lake Temenggor Banding Island Resort Malaysian Public Works Department (JKR) monument V i Petronas	T-junctions
		Lake Temenggor Bridge Lake Temenggor
		Belum Forest
		Air Banun
Perak Darul Ridzuan Hulu Perak district border
Perak-Kelantan border
Kelantan Darul Naim Jeli district border
		Open air tunnel
		Kampung Lawar	WEST Batu Melintang Kalai	T-junctions
		Kampung Gunong	WEST Batu Melintang Kalai	T-junctions
		Pergau
EAST-WEST HIGHWAY Start/End of highway
		JELI	SOUTH Gua Musang Dabong	Town centre T-Junctions
		JELI (East)	SOUTH D203 JALAN JELI TIMUR Gua Musang Dabong	T-junctions
			EAST Tanah Merah Machang Kota Bharu Kuala Krai Pasir Puteh AH 18Besut AH 18Kuala Terengganu

[edit] See also

• Second East-West Highway

v • d • e Highways of the Malaysia Federal Route 4 East-West Highway