The Second Crossing

Shame as it was raining heavily when we arrives at the intersection onto the new bridge connecting the mainland to Penang. Dubbed the Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah Bridge, it stood nearly 25 km long, easily surpassing the first Penang Bridge some 20 minutes away along the PLUS highway.

Heavy rain, but luckily no strong crosswind to bother the driving, it was actually a pleasant drive. Although it spanned only a couple of lanes each way, it had a separate cycle lane, ample room for the hard shoulder and a much wider lane. The driving experience was completely different from the original bridge. You hardly felt that you were suspended over water at all.

Toll was marginally more expensive than the original bridge at RM8.50, but I wouldn't complain about that. It took us about 25 minutes to get from end to end, and since we landed further south on the island, there would be an extra journey time to Georgetown. As the road feeding into the bridge were not yet complete, expect heavy jam. Luckily it was Sunday afternoon, and the roads were practically empty.

Just before you reach the island, there was a rise on the bridge for water vessels to pass underneath. Here, two pairs of guilded towers were built with cables suspending the bridge, paying homage to the original bridge.

The new bridge cut my journey time and would definitely cut the congestion on the main bridge considerably but I felt that the bridge was rushed through its opening. It was a crime to open it while they were still building the feeding highways. But then again, this is Malaysia ....