Kota Bharu–Kuala Krai Expressway () also known as the People's Expressway () or Federal Route 34, is a

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

expressway that is under construction in

Kelantan Kelantan (; Kelantan-Pattani Malay, Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate''; ) is a state in Malaysia. The capital, Kota Bharu, includes the royal seat of Kubang Kerian. The honorific, honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' ("The Blissful Abode"). ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. It was planned as a national expressway, but was constructed as a state expressway because the federal government dropped out of the expressway project several times since 1990; consequently, the expressway will be the first state-owned controlled-access expressway once completed. Nevertheless, the project was gradually integrated into the

Central Spine Road Lingkaran Tengah Utama Expressway, previously known as Central Spine Road (CSR) or Kuala Krai–Kuala Pilah Highway, Federal Route 34, is a new toll-free Controlled-access highway, expressway under construction in the center of Peninsular Ma ...

34 project by 2015 and uses the same continuous exit numbers.

Overview

The Kota Bharu–Kuala Krai Expressway is a expressway connecting the city of

Kota Bharu Kota Bharu ( Kelantanese: ''Koto Baghu''), colloquially referred to as KB, is a town in Malaysia that serves as the state capital and royal seat of Kelantan. It is situated in the northeastern part of Peninsular Malaysia and lies near the mout ...

and

Kuala Krai Kuala Krai (alternative spelling: Kuala Kerai; Kelantanese: ''Kkeghe'') is a town located in the coterminous Kuala Krai District in southern-central Kelantan, Malaysia. During British protection it was known as ''Kuala Lebir''. It is 67 ...

in Kelantan. The expressway will be built as a four-lane dual-carriageway expressway with full access control. There are nine grade-separated interchanges and two

rest areas A rest area is a public facility located next to a large thoroughfare such as a motorway, expressway, or highway, at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting onto secondary roads. Other names include motorway ser ...

will be constructed along the expressway. The construction of the expressway is state-funded without toll collection. In addition to the state fund, the public may contribute for the expressway construction through a ''

wakaf A (; , plural ), also called a (, plural or ), or ''mortmain'' property, is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charit ...

'' fund. The expressway is being built in three phases. Phase 1 from Bukit Tiu to Kuala Krai was constructed first, as the section runs along the state-owned land, eliminating the compensation costs for land takeovers. Meanwhile, Phase 3 from Pasir Hor to Kota Bharu will be the final section to be built, as the section will be an elevated expressway built on top of the existing Federal Route 8, making the section as the most expensive section of the expressway.

History

The construction of the Kota Bharu–Kuala Krai Expressway was planned as early as during the

Fifth Malaysia Plan Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth Avenue * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a cont ...

during the end of the 1980s. The expressway was planned to be built as an alternative for the badly-congested Federal Route 8 along the Kota Bharu–Kuala Krai section, which becomes worse during festive season. However, the expressway project was dropped off, due to the loss of the Kelantanese

Barisan Nasional Barisan Nasional (BN; ) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1974 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties to succeed the Alliance Party. It is the third largest political coalition with 30 seats in ...

state government to

Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party The Malaysian Islamic Party, also known as the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party ( Malay: ''Parti Islam Se-Malaysia''; abbrev: PAS), is an Islamist political party in Malaysia. Ideologically focused on Islamic fundamentalism and Malay dominanc ...

Semangat 46 The Parti Melayu Semangat 46 or ''Spirit of 46 Malay Party (S46)'' was a Malaysian political party. The party was formed in 1988, and dissolved in 1996. It was formed by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's "Team B" faction of the United Malays National Or ...

coalition during the 1990 General Election. The project was later revived by the fifth Prime Minister, Tun

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Abdullah bin Ahmad Badawi (, ; 26 November 1939 – 14 April 2025), also known as Pak Lah, was a Malaysian politician and civil servant who served as the fifth prime minister of Malaysia from 2003 to 2009. A member of UMNO, he was the party's ...

as one of the projects under the

Ninth Malaysia Plan The Ninth Malaysian Plan (), abbreviated as '9MP', is a comprehensive blueprint prepared by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Prime Minister's Department and the Finance Ministry of Malaysia with approval by the Cabinet of Malaysia. The pla ...

, but was dropped off again ultimately after Datuk Seri

Najib Razak Mohammad Najib bin Abdul Razak (, ; born 23 July 1953) is a Malaysian politician who served as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2009 to 2018. In 2020, he was convicted of corruption in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, on ...

became the sixth Prime Minister. As a result, the PAS-led Kelantan state government decided to construct the expressway by themselves. The expressway construction was inaugurated by the

Menteri Besar of Kelantan The Menteri Besar of Kelantan or Chief Minister of Kelantan is the head of government in the Malaysian state of Kelantan. According to convention, the Menteri Besar is the leader of the largest party or coalition in the Kelantan State Legislative ...

, Tuan Guru

Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat Nik Abdul Aziz bin Nik Mat ( Jawi: ; 10 January 1931 – 12 February 2015) was a Malaysian politician and Muslim cleric. He was the Menteri Besar of Kelantan from 1990 to 2013 and the ''Mursyidul Am'' or Spiritual Leader of the Pan-Malaysia ...

on 28 May 2012. The construction of the expressway by the PAS-led Kelantan state government was heavily criticized by the

-led federal government, claiming that the expressway project was nothing but just a mere political gimmick by the state government. In addition, Barisan Nasional-led federal government also criticized the ''

'' method being used to fund the expressway construction. On the other hand, the state government criticized the federal government for not being cooperative and supportive regarding the expressway construction, hence disputing the federal government's integrity. On 20 January 2012 during the BN-sponsored ''Jelajah Janji Ditepati'' (Promises Fulfilled) roadshow at Kota Bharu, Datuk Seri Najib Razak included the expressway project as one of the seven federal mega projects being promised for Kelantan if BN takes over Kelantan from PAS during the upcoming 13th general election. However, the promise was heavily criticized by the incumbent PAS-led state government for being a conditional manifesto, as well as plagiarizing the state government's own plans. Datuk

Husam Musa Datuk Husam bin Musa ( Jawi: حسام بن موسى; born 14 October 1959) is a Malaysian politician who served as a senator in the Dewan Negara from 2018 to 2021. He held the position of vice-president in the National Trust Party (AMANAH), ...

, the chairman of the Economic Planning, Finance and Welfare Committee of Kelantan, said that the federal government should have executed the expressway project a long time ago rather than making promises, as the project had already been approved during the Fifth Malaysian Plan and once again during the Ninth Malaysian Plan.

List of interchanges

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kota Bharu-Kuala Krai Expressway Expressways in Malaysia Roads in Kelantan