Part of the 3.8km Paya Terubong Paired Road project, it promises to cut down travel time between Air Itam and Relau from the current 20 to 30 minutes to just five to 10 minutes.

The RM378.2 million project is the most expensive and largest infrastructure project by the Penang Island City Council (MBPP).

MBPP secretary Rajendran Anthony said a renowned engineering firm had given its assurance that the roads and the hillslopes are safe.

Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow said the road project marked another promise fulfilled by the state government to ease traffic congestion in the state.

He said the present route was mooted in the 1980s but was never carried out by state governments before Pakatan Harapan (PH) due to a lack of funding.

Chow said the bypass road was sorely needed as high-density development projects had mushroomed in tandem with population growth.

He said the remainder of the project, a 2.2km-stretch, will be completed by two private developers PLB Land Sdn Bhd and Geo Valley Sdn Bhd.

The roads are separate from the bypass but will link the developers’ housing projects to the road.

As of today, the developers’ road-building progress is at about 15% to 20%, one of which is on hold due to a planning permission dispute.

In 2018, nine construction workers were killed in a landslide triggered by a 10-hour rainfall and failure by the contractors to provide adequate drainage.

Contractor Yuta Maju Sdn Bhd later paid RM65,000 in court-imposed fines after pleading guilty to two counts of occupational safety violations and another offence of failing to strengthen temporary slopes on the site.