Expect heavy traffic at land borders over Haji holiday
Motorists planning to enter Malaysia by car over the Hari Raya Haji holiday should expect waiting times of close to three hours during peak periods.
With the upcoming public holiday on Thursday, heavy traffic is expected at both Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints between Wednesday and Monday, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said on Tuesday.
It advised those travelling by car or bus to take into account a longer wait for immigration clearance.
During the June school holidays, continuous heavy traffic was observed at both land checkpoints, and traveller volume peaked on June 16 with about 430,000 crossings, exceeding pre-pandemic levels, said ICA.
More than 1.2 million travellers crossed the land checkpoints between Singapore and Malaysia from June 16 to 18.
ICA noted that there were long queues of cars waiting to clear immigration, and continuous tailback from Malaysia.
With schools opening again on June 26, more than 1.1 million travellers cleared immigration at the land checkpoints from June 24 to 26, it added.
ICA advised motorists to check the traffic situation at both checkpoints on the Land Transport Authority’s OneMotoring website or the Expressway Monitoring and Advisory System installed on the Bukit Timah and Ayer Rajah Expressways, before embarking on their journey.
Updates on traffic conditions will also be posted on ICA’s Facebook and Twitter accounts, and broadcast on local radio stations Money FM 89.3, Kiss92, One FM 91.3, 96.3 Hao FM and UFM100.3.
ICA said it works closely with the Traffic Police to ensure road discipline and urged motorists to observe traffic rules, maintain lane discipline and cooperate with officers on-site.
It added: “Motorists should refrain from queue cutting as it can cause severe congestion and compromise the safety of other motorists.
“Errant motorists caught queue cutting will be turned back into Singapore.”
In June, a Malaysian driver travelling from Singapore to Malaysia who was caught on video attempting to cut the queue on the Causeway by using the dedicated bus and lorry lane, was banned from entering Singapore by the ICA.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now