A 2km-section of Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah near Bayan Baru and the Free Industrial Zone (FIZ) which links the airport and nearby factories will see the three lanes reduced to two, the contractor, SRS LRT Sdn Bhd, said.

The roads to be narrowed comprise the stretch from the Jalan Kampung Jawa-Jalan Mahsuri junction to the Jalan Mayang Pasir junction, the firm’s project director Adil Putra Ahmad said.

He said the closure of one lane was to facilitate the construction of an overhead track, which would take 38 months to complete.

The overhead track project, on the southern section of the island, is part of the 29.5km, 21-station LRT line which began construction in July and is expected to be completed by 2031.

Aidil said they would try to ease the jams by removing some traffic lights to allow the free flow of traffic, and creating more U-turn points.

“For a project of this size, the planning for temporary traffic management has to be done very carefully, based on our study.

“The impact on traffic is usually huge, if not planned properly,” he said in a briefing to some 200 industry players from the FIZ.

The FIZ holds key multinational factories from around the world and employs some 350,000 workers, according to InvestPenang chief Loo Lee Lian.

State infrastructure, transport and digital committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari, who also attended the briefing, said it was difficult to avoid traffic congestion as the construction was at a site with pre-existing structures.

“Traffic will be bad during the build, just like in Kuala Lumpur. We cannot run from that.

“But what we can do is give more information, so that people can plan,” he said, adding that the state government would be transparent and update road users.