Malaysia Federal Route 1 (Sarawak)

History

The Sarawak Pan-Borneo Highway was built due to the lack of the intercity highway network in Sarawak. Initially, the intercity highway plan in Sarawak only existed after the Second World War ended in 1945, after Sarawak was ceded to Britain to become a British Crown Colony.

The construction of the first intercity trunk highway in Sarawak was commenced in 1965, dubbed as the "First Trunk Road". Most of the highway network in Sarawak was constructed within the decades of 1960s to 1980s. The Lawas–Merapok–Sindumin section was completed in 1981 while the final missing link from Sibu to Bintulu was completed in 1985. However, the highway had not been fully paved with asphalt yet at that time; it was only by the end of Sixth Malaysia Plan (RMK6) in 1995 that the FT1 highway in Sarawak was fully paved.

Before 1996, all routes in the Pan-Borneo Highway network in Malaysia, including Sarawak Pan-Borneo Highway, were state highways. After the Federal Roads Act 1959 was made effective in Sabah and Sarawak in 1984, those highways were re-gazetted as federal highways in 1996 with the route number of FT1 (from Sematan to Kudat through Brunei), FT13 (Mile 32 Sandakan to Tawau) and FT22 (Tamparuli to Sandakan). Those highways were later gazetted as a part of Asian Highway Network Route AH150.

Although some sections had been upgraded to divided highways, the Sarawak Pan-Borneo Highway was notorious for its poor condition in many sections. The overall condition in many sections of the Malaysian section of the Highway was poor with many potholes, because most sections of the highway were built with standards as low as JKR R3 (design speed limit: 70 km/h; minimum lane width: 3.0 m). A study to upgrade the entire highway to a super two highway under JKR R5 standard (design speed limit: 100 km/h; minimum lane width: 3.5 m) was done, which was expected to cost RM16 billion. Ultimately, the Malaysian federal government had opted to upgrade the Pan-Borneo Highway to a divided highway. The upgrade works of the Sarawak Pan-Borneo Highway to a divided highway is expected to be completed by 2023, with the overall cost of RM27 billion including its Sabahan counterparts.

Sections of the Federal Route 1 in Sarawak

There are 93 sections that form the entire Federal Route 1 in Sarawak:-

References

References

1. [http://www.kkr.gov.my/files/html/JalanPersekutuan/Jalan%20Persekutuan%20Utama.pdf Senarai Jalan Persekutuan Utama Malaysia] {{webarchive. link. (2011-07-28 {{in lang). ms - [[Malaysian Public Works Department]]. Accessed 2011-5-14.
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4. Tun Dr. [[Mahathir Mohamad]]. (17 November 1981). "Sempena Pembukaan Rasmi Lebuhraya Papar ke Sindumin".
5. Loi, Teck Hui. (16 August 2017). "Practising Corporate Social Responsibility in Malaysia: A Case Study in an Emerging Economy". Palgrave Macmillan.
6. . ["Asian Highway Database: AH Network in Member Countries"](http://www.unescap.org/ttdw/common/tis/ah/Member%20countries.asp). *[[United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific]]*.
7. ERIA Study Team. "Current Status of ASEAN Transport Sector". ASEAN Secretariat and ERIA.
8. Zaain Zin. (17 December 2011). "Naik taraf jalan Pan Borneo RM16b". [[Utusan Malaysia]].
9. Wong, Jack. (17 December 2011). "Study gets underway for proposed upgrading of much-maligned Pan Borneo Highway". [[The Star (Malaysia).
10. Sinyang, Angeline. (2015-04-01). "Pan Borneo Sarawak dilancar". [[Utusan Malaysia]].
11. . (2015-11-26). ["Lebuhraya Pan Borneo Sarawak dijangka siap pada 2023 - Rosnah"](https://www.bharian.com.my/node/100122). *[[Berita Harian]]*.