Second East–West Highway

Second East–West Highway (Malay: Lebuhraya Timur–Barat Kedua), also known as Simpang Pulai–Kuala Berang Highway, Federal Route 185 and Federal Route 36, is a highway in Peninsular Malaysia which connects Simpang Pulai in Perak to Kuala Jeneris in Terengganu.^[1] It overlaps with Federal Route 8 Federal Route 8 between Gua Musang and Sungai Relau. It is notorious for its many sharp corners which increase the risk of road accidents.

Federal Route 185
Second East–West Highway (Simpang Pulai–Kuala Berang Highway)
Route information
Length	313.6 km (194.9 mi)
Existed	2001–present
History	Completed in 2004
Major junctions
West end	Simpang Pulai, Perak
Major intersections	FT 3150 Jalan Lahat–Simpang Pulai FT 1 Federal Route 1 FT 59 Federal Route 59 FT 8 Federal Route 8 FT 247 Federal Route 247 Bukit Payung–Telemung Highway
East end	Kuala Jeneris, Terengganu
Location
Country	Malaysia
Primary destinations	Ipoh Cameron Highlands Kota Bharu Kuala Lipis Gua Musang Kenyir Lake Kuala Terengganu
Highway system
Highways in Malaysia Expressways Federal State

Route background

The Kilometre Zero of the Federal Route 185 is located at Simpang Pulai, Perak, at its junctions with the Federal Route 1, the main trunk road of the central of Peninsular Malaysia and end at Gua Musang town. Meanwhile, section from Chiku to Kuala Telemung regazetted as Federal Route 36 in February 2017.

Federal Route 185 traverses two of Peninsular Malaysia's main mountain ranges, the Titiwangsa Range (Perak–Pahang–Kelantan) and the Pantai Timur Range (Kelantan–Terengganu). Hence, several tourist attractions can be found along the highway include Cameron Highlands, Lojing and the Kenyir Lake.

History

The highway used to be known as Perak State Route 181 from Simpang Pulai to Pos Slim before being extended eastwards and recommissioned as a federal highway. The construction of the highway began in 2001 and was completed in 2004. Phase 2 was completed at the end of 2010.

Location of the project

The route runs through the states of Perak, Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu, starting at Simpang Pulai and traversing through the main range at Lojing, then Chiku, before entering Jalan Felda Aring and ending at Kuala Jeneris.

Project scope of work

The total distance of the road is 313.66 km (194.90 mi), excluding the 41 km existing road from Gua Musang to Chiku, Kelantan. The road is designed to Malaysian Public Works Department (JKR) geometric standard of R3 with a design speed of 50 km/h.

In terms of riding comfort, this R3 standard falls in between the R5 or R6 standard for expressway (typically with a design speed of 80–110 km/h) and R1 or R2 standard such as the winding hilly road (typically with a design speed of 20–30 km/h).

Typically, the road is a two-lane single carriageway with a lane width of 3.5m and shoulder width of 2.5m. Climbing lanes are also provided at certain sections with steep gradient, to assist slow moving vehicles. The project also involves the construction of viaducts, bridges and culverts.

Those who want to go from Simpang Pulai to Kuala Berang/Kuala Berang to Simpang Pulai must go through part of federal route 8.

Estimated cost

The entire project is estimated to cost RM1.6 billion and divided into 10 packages for implementation.

Features

  FT 185 Lojing Viaduct is the second highest bridge in Malaysia.

At most sections, the Federal Route 185 was built under the JKR R5 road standard, allowing maximum speed limit of up to 90 km/h.

The highway overlaps with T156 Jalan Pengkalan Utama from Kenyir Lake to Kuala Jeneris.

Notable events

• 20 December 2010 – Twenty-seven people, mostly Thai tourist were killed when the double-decked coach bus they were travelling in crashed at the Second East–West Highway of the Perak–Pahang border near Cameron Highlands, Pahang.
• In February 2017, Second East–West Highway section from Chiku to Kuala Berang (Jalan Aring 8 & Jalan Aring 5-Kuala Jeneris) regazetted as   FT 36. Meanwhile, section overlaps with D29 at Gua Musang regazetted as   FT 185.

List of junctions and towns

This is a list of junctions and towns along the highway.

Km	Exit	Junctions	To	Remarks
FT 185 0		Simpang Pulai Simpang Pulai Junctions	North   FT 1 Ipoh West   FT 3150 Jalan Lahat–Simpang Pulai   FT 3150 Lahat   FT 3150 Pasir Pinji South  A8 Batu Gajah   FT 1 Gopeng    North–South Expressway Northern Route   AH2 North–South Expressway Northern Route Alor Star Penang Kuala Lumpur	T-Junctions
FT 185 Second East–West Highway (Phase 1) Simpang Pulai–Gua Musang Start/End of highway
		Simpang Pulai Fire Station
		Sungai Raya bridge
		Petronas Layby
		Simpang Pulai Quarry
		Simpang Pulai Quarry
				Start/End of four-lane carriageway
FT 185 15
				Start/End of four-lane carriageway
		Viaduct
Perak Darul Ridzuan Kinta district border
Perak–Pahang border
Pahang Darul Makmur Cameron Highlands district border
Cameron Highlands
		Cameron Highlands Avant Chocolate	Avant Chocolate
		Cameron Highlands Kampung Raja
		Cameron Highlands Cameron Highlands (North) Junctions	South   FT 59 Cameron Highlands   FT 59 Kampung Raja   FT 59 Tringkap   FT 59 Brinchang   FT 59 Tanah Rata   FT 59 Tapah   FT 102 Sungai Koyan Tourist attractions	T-Junctions
Cameron Highlands
Pahang Darul Makmur Cameron Highlands district border
Pahang–Kelantan border
Kelantan Darul Naim Gua Musang district border
		Pos Sigar	Pos Sigar Orang Asli village	T-junctions
		Sungai Pangoi bridge
		Pos Brooke	Pos Brooke Orang Asli village	T-junctions
		Sungai Lojing bridge
		Pos Mering	Pos Mering Orang Asli village Lojing Highlands	T-junctions
		Lojing Viaduct Sungai Chenderoh bridge
		Lojing	Lojing Highlands	T-junctions
		Sungai Berok bridge
		Kampung Sungkai
		Ulu Nenggiri Junctions	West   FT 484 Jalan Ulu Nenggiri Ulu Nenggiri Kampung Pilting	T-junctions
FT 185 Second East–West Highway (Phase 1) Simpang Pulai–Gua Musang
		Gua Musang Gua Musang Town Junctions	North  D29 Jalan Dabong–Gua Musang   FT 66 Dabong   FT 4 Jeli South   FT 8 Kuala Lipis   FT 64 Jerantut   FT 8 Raub   FT 64 Taman Negara	Junctions
		Overlaps with   FT 8 from Gua Musang–Chiku	see also   FT 8 Federal Route 8
		Chiku Chiku Junctions	North   FT 8 Kota Bharu   FT 8 Kuala Krai	T-junctions
FT 36 Second East–West Highway (Phase 2) Gua Musang–Kuala Berang
FT 36		Kampung Kabang
		Sungai Lebir bridge
		Kampung Lanchang
Kelantan Darul Naim Gua Musang district border
Kelantan–Terengganu border
Terengganu Darul Iman Hulu Terengganu district border
هولو ترڠݢانو Hulu Terengganu
Kenyir Lake
		Sungai Kembur Viaduct
		TNB Puah Hydroelectric Dam	TNB Puah Hydroelectric Dam	T-junctions
		Sungai Kelempai Viaduct
		Pasir Pulau Viaduct
		Sungai Purun Viaduct
		Sungai Jeneris Viaduct
		Jalan Pengkalan Utama Junctions	South  T156 Jalan Pengkalan Utama TNB Pengkalan Gawi Dam Telemung Waterfall	T-junctions
		Kenyir Lake Rest and Service Area
		Kenyir Lake Kenyir Lake Junctions	South Kenyir Lake     Pengkalan Gawi   (Jetty) Kenyir Lake Resort and Spa Kenyir Lake Visitor Centre           V	T-junctions
Kenyir Lake
		Kampung Basung
		Pelung Junctions	North  T151 Jalan Pelung Pelung	T-junctions
		Kampung Pasir Duta
FT 36 Second East–West Highway (Phase 2) Gua Musang–Kuala Berang
		Kuala Jeneris Kuala Jeneris Junctions	North   FT 247 Sungai Tong   FT 3   AH18 Setiu   FT 3   AH18 Besut South   FT 247 Kuala Berang   FT 106 Ajil	Junctions
			East Bukit Payung–Telemung Highway   FT 14 Kuala Terengganu   FT 14 Bukit Payong Telemong    East Coast Expressway East Coast Expressway Kuantan Kuala Lumpur

Gallery

•  

  FT185 near its west end in Simpang Pulai, eastbound

•  

  FT185 snakes up through the Titiwangsa Mountains near the border with Pahang, not far from Cameron Highlands

•  

  Lojing Viaduct, Lojing

•  

  The highway near Aring, towards the border with Terengganu. Taken prior to widening.

•  

  The Terengganuan section of FT185, near Kenyir Lake

See also

• East–West Highway

References

1. Statistik Jalan (Edisi 2013). Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Public Works Department. 2013. pp. 16–64. ISSN 1985-9619.