Federal Highway, the Ole Faithful

I ride the Federal Highway daily from my house in Subang Jaya to my office in Section 13, Petaling Jaya and no matter people may believe, I have learnt to respect the stretch. Upon dropping onto the highway from the sliproad exiting Subang Jaya I am normally faced with a carpark, i.e. non-moving buncha cars and lorries all bristling and lined up. I may curse the jam, I may even express my frustrations by expressing colourful expletives and banging both fists on the steering wheel, but like any Ole Faithful, the Federal Highway never fails to deliver; because no matter how heavy the traffic, it will still move. It never grid-locks, and it never diverts. You get on the stretch and you just go. You may just go slowly but you go nevertheless. Which is why no matter how dire the traffic situation looks on the Federal Highway, it is not that dire, as opposed to newer highways that have sprouted like mushrooms all over the Klang Valley and their death-grip on forward motion. So what exactly is the Federal Highway? I checked with Wikipedia and came up with this:

"Federal Highway, or Lebuhraya Persekutuan in Malay (or sometimes called it "Federal", "Highway Persekutuan" or "Highway Federal" by Klang Valley citizens) is a Malaysian highway connecting the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, and Klang, Selangor. The highway starts from Seputeh in Kuala Lumpur to Klang, Selangor. It is the busiest highway in Klang Valley during rush hour from/to Kuala Lumpur. The Federal Highway is coded as Federal Route"

Bet you didn't know that didja? Neither did I. Now get a load of this: (again taken from Wikipedia)

"The history of the highway started after the separation of Singapore from Malaysia on 9 August 1965, when the Malaysian government decided to make Port Swettenham (now Port Klang) as Malaysia's new national port as a replacement of Singapore. As a result, the government planned to build a highway connecting Port Klang to Kuala Lumpur by upgrading the former Kuala Lumpur-Klang Highway (Jalan Kuala Lumpur-Klang) to a full motorway by replacing the existing at-grade intersections with interchanges, making the Federal Highway as Malaysia's first expressway[1]. Funded by a loan granted by the World Bank, the upgrade works started from 1974 until 1977[1]. The highway was originally a 4-lane limited access highway except for the Petaling Jaya stretch where it became 6-lane highway. However, in 1992 PLUS Expressway Berhad, the concession holder of North-South Expressway has upgraded the entire highway to a 6-lane highway with two toll plazas, Batu Tiga and Sungai Rasau. The 6-lane toll highway had begun in operation on 11 May 1993. The highway handles incredible volumes of traffic and one should expect a significant jam at more or less any time of day. The section of the highway from Subang Jaya to Kota Darul Ehsan near Petaling Jaya are paved with asphalt. The exit number system similar to toll expressways was introduced in 2007 at Federal Highway; thus making the Federal Highway as the first and currently the only federal expressway with expressway exit numbering system."

Waaah... the Ole Faithful is rich with history and indeed plays a significant role in Malaysian history. And all along you thought it was a moving car-park. Now go out there and impress the pants off your friends with your knowledge of the Federal Highway. Especially if you happen to be stuck in a traffic jam along the Federal Highway, its a sure way to pass the time. Just don't do it in an annoying manner as drivers driving in a traffic jam tend to get antsy.