WCE Section 11 (Taiping-Beruas) Opens March 12, Toll-Free Until May 11

Highway concessionaires West Coast Expressway (WCE) officially opened its new Section 11 stretch spanning from Taiping to Beruas earlier today.

Earlier today, highway concessionaires West Coast Expressway (WCE) held a ceremony to officially open a new section of its network. The new section’s opening was marked with a small ceremony held at the Taiping Selatan elevated interchange.

Present here were Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi and Perak state Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad.

Though officially opened today, motorists can only access the new Section 11 stretch of the WCE, which spans from Taiping to Beruas, starting from 12:01AM on March 12. Additionally, said new section will also be toll-free until May 11.

Present to officially open the section were Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi, and Perak state Menteri Besar Datu Seri Saarani Mohamad.

According to the concessionaire, the new route is strategically connected to the North-South Expressway (NSE) via the latter highway’s Changkat Jering interchange. In turn, this would benefit motorists traversing from southern Perak to Selangor with reduced travel times and lower fuel costs.

Moreover, it will also grant motorists access to a number of Perak state’s key tourism destinations situated in the Taiping district – i.e. Taiping Zoo, Taiping Lake Gardens, Matang forest reserve, Remis Beach, and Pangkor Island.

Critically, Section 11 of the WCE houses two (North- and Southbound) R&Rs at Sungai Nyiur, and no less than six motorcycle shelters (combined, North- and Southbound). Uniquely, this section also sees two wildlife crossing tunnels present for wildlife residents of the Bubu Forest Reserve.

Besides reduced travel times and costs, the newly opened Section 11 of the WCE grants easier access to some of Taiping's key tourist destination.

The official opening of Section 11 of the WCE earlier today follows up from a commitment made by its concessionaires back in Jan this year. It’s also a timely one as it’s now ready to accommodate traffic for the upcoming Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations.

 To date, WCE sees six of its planned 11 sections now opened to motorists. This includes Sections 5 (Klang-Kapar), 6 (Kapar-Assam Jawa), 8 (Hutan Melintang-Teluk Intan), 9 (Kg. Lekir-Changkat Cermin), and 10 (Changkat Mirror-Beruas). Altogether, these serve up to 70,000 vehicles daily.

This new stretch will be toll-free from March 12 until May 11.

At today’s ceremony, WCE CEO Lyndon Alfred Felix stated that two more sections will open later this year, these being Section 1 (Banting-SKVE) and Section 2 (SKVE-Shah Alam Expressway). Both are set to become operational by the third-quarter (Q3) of this year.

The exec further noted that total construction of the WCE now stands at 93% completed, and the firm is on course to have it fully constructed by the end of 2025.