Senai–Desaru Expressway

The Johor Bahru–Kota Tinggi Highway (Federal Route 3) and Pengerang Highway (Federal Route 92) used to be the only gateway to Desaru, with a typical journey of 2.5 hours. Construction of the expressway began in 2005. The construction was led by Senai–Desaru Expressway Berhad with a main contractor, Ranhill Engineers & Constructors Sdn Bhd. Phase 1 of the expressway linking Senai to Pasir Gudang was opened to traffic on 10 September 2009, and the remaining stretch from Pasir Gudang to Desaru, including the bridge, opened on 10 June 2011.^{[citation needed]}

On 12 December 2017, former Works Minister Fadillah Yusof had announced that the government approved to allocate RM390 million to upgrade and expand the 26 km stretch from Cahaya Baru to the Bandar Penawar intersection into dual carriageway.^[3] However, a session was held on 17 July 2018 between the Finance Ministry, the Works Ministry and the Economic Planning Unit to identify the list of Works Ministry projects that had not been issued acceptance letters, as well as the project savings. Following this session, Johor's State Public Works, Infrastructure and Transportation Committee chairman Mazlan Bujang said the federal government had postponed this project on 9 December 2018.^[3] However on 1 November 2024, the SDE's upgrade was proceeded after Kimlun Berhad was awarded contract to complete this upgrade by 2027.^[4][5]

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

The tolled expressway is a combination of a four-lane dual carriageway (Senai–Cahaya Baru section) and a two-lane single carriageway (Cahaya Baru–Penawar section), which improves road connection between western and eastern Johor. It features a closed toll system like the North–South Expressway. It is also an alternative route to Desaru Beach, instead of Federal Route 3 and Federal Route 92 from Johor Bahru and Singapore. The highway has become the main access road to Desaru from North–South Expressway Southern Route E2 and a major road link to Senai International Airport from Kota Tinggi and eastern parts of Johor. Construction of the road included the 1.7 kilometre Sungai Johor Bridge, the longest single plane cable stayed bridge in Malaysia across Johor River, which became the longest river bridge in Malaysia after Batang Sadong Bridge in Sarawak.

The section between Cahaya Baru and Penawar is built as a two-lane expressway (except the Sungai Johor-SDE bridge) while retaining the full access control, making the section as the first true two-lane expressway with full access control in Malaysia.^[6]

There is a water catchment area located along Sungai Layang sections near the Sultan Iskandar Reservoir. Senai–Desaru Expressway traverses through the environmentally sensitive water catchment area of Sultan Iskandar Reservoir. Senai–Desaru Expressway is the only expressway in Malaysia which features the Pollutant Removal System (PRS). The expressway took one step higher by introducing the PRS to monitor and control any potential impact to the water quality in Sultan Iskandar Reservoir in the event of a spillage of dangerous and hazardous chemicals from any vehicle travelling on the expressway.^[7]

The Senai–Desaru Expressway's default speed limit on the expressway is 110 km/h (68 mph), but there are some exceptions in some places for several reasons, including:-

• Cahaya Baru interchange–Penawar: 90 km/h (56 mph) (two-lane sections)
• Senai Main Interchange–Senai Town interchange: 80 km/h (50 mph) (due to high traffic capacity)
• 1 km before every toll plaza: 60 km/h (37 mph) or 50 km/h (31 mph) (to help the traffic to slow down)
• Penawar intersections: 60 km/h (37 mph) (at-grade junctions)

The Senai–Desaru Expressway uses the closed toll system. Beginning 9 November 2016, all electronic toll transactions have been conducting using Touch 'n Go and SmartTAGs.

Toll rates

More information Class, Type of vehicles ...

Class[8]	Type of vehicles	Rate (in Malaysian Ringgit (RM)) up to
0	Motorcycles (Vehicles with two axles and two wheels)	Free
1	Private Cars (Vehicles with two axles and three or four wheels (excluding taxis and buses))	9.20
2	Vans and other small goods vehicles (Vehicles with two axles and six wheels (excluding buses))	13.80
3	Large Trucks (Vehicles with three or more axles (excluding buses))	18.40
4	Taxis	4.60
5	Buses	5.70

Close

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

The entire route is located in Johor.

Legend:

• I/C - Interchange, I/S - Intersection, RSA - Rest and service area, OBR - Overhead bridge restaurant, R/R - Restaurant and rest plaza, L/B - Layby, V/P - Vista point, TN - tunnel, T/P - Toll plaza, BR - Bridge

• C - Cloverleaf, S - Stack, T-A - Trumpet-A, T-B - Trumpet-B, DT - Directional-T/Y, SDT - Semi-Directional-T/Y, P-Y - Partial-Y, D - Diamond, P-C - Partial cloverleaf, D-D - Diverging diamond, D-R - Direct ramp

Main Link

More information District, Location ...

District	Location	km	mi	Exit	Name	Destinations	Notes
Kulai	Senai	0.0	0.0	2201	Senai Main I/C	Second Link Expressway / AH143 – Tuas (Singapore), Gelang Patah, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Senai International Airport, Senai Industrial Area	Trumpet interchange
				Sungai Skudai bridge
				2202	Senai Town I/C	FT 16 Senai Airport Highway – Senai, Kulai, Johor Bahru
				Senai Toll Plaza
Johor Bahru	Johor Bahru			Sungai Skudai bridge
		19.0	11.8	Pipeline crossing bridge
				2204	Ulu Tiram I/C	FT 3 / AH18 Johor Bahru–Kota Tinggi Highway – Ulu Tiram, Johor Bahru, Woodlands (Singapore), Kota Tinggi, Mersing SDEB operation office	Trumpet interchange
		29.5– 30.5	18.3– 19.0	Layang RSA, Shell (both bounds; separated)
				Sungai Layang viaduct Water catchment area
	Pasir Gudang			2205	Cahaya Baru I/C	Senai–Desaru Expressway (Pasir Gudang Link) – Cahaya Baru, Kong Kong, Masai, Pasir Gudang, Tanjung Langsat, Johor Port	Trumpet interchange
				Selat Mendana bridge
		47.0	29.2		Pulau Juling
Johor Bahru–Kota Tinggi district border		48.0	29.8	Sungai Johor Bridge Length: 1.7 km (1.1 mi)
Kota Tinggi	Pengerang				Tanjung Penyabong
				Sungai Layau bridge
				Sungai Semenchu bridge
				Sungai Papan bridge
				Penawar Toll Plaza
		69.4	43.1	2212	Penawar I/S	FT 92 Pengerang Highway – Kota Tinggi, Desaru , Bandar Penawar, Sungai Rengit, Pengerang, Tanjung Pengelih	Signalised at-grade intersection
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Electronic toll collection

Close

Pasir Gudang Link

The entire route is in Pasir Gudang subdistrict, Johor Bahru District, Johor.

More information Location, km ...

Location	km	mi	Exit	Name	Destinations	Notes
Cahaya Baru			2205	Cahaya Baru I/C	Senai–Desaru Expressway (Main Link) – Johor Bahru, Senai, Senai International Airport, Kuala Lumpur, Desaru , Bandar Penawar	Trumpet interchange
			Cahaya Baru Toll Plaza
			2205A	Masai I/C	J10 Johor State Route J10 – Masai, Kong Kong, Cahaya Baru
Kota Masai			2207	Kota Masai I/C	Jalan Kota Masai – Jalan Kota Masai	Left-in/left-out
Tanjung Langsat			2210	Pasir Gudang I/C	FT 17 Tanjung Langsat Highway – Pasir Gudang, Johor Bahru, Plentong, Tanjung Langsat, Johor Port	Trumpet interchange
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Electronic toll collection       Incomplete access

Close