Roundabout 3 Before, Major Traffic Lights Junction Now

In 1990, Bintulu had its biggest roundabout at KM 5, Bintulu- Miri Road. The Roundabout was plainly called Roundabout 3. At a corner of the roundabout was located JKR's temporary stock pile area for road and infrastructure construction materials.  An indoor badminton stadium was also built at one end of the state land on which the two facilities were built.

Looking at the place today, the changes is beyond recognition.  That site has been taken up by commercial buildings development undertaken by the private sector.

As at the point of writing the commercial shophouses are ready for occupation.  

As Bintulu moved into its Millenial Growth Era ( i.e. after its last fourth boom) and starting in 2016, the town remains the brightest star in its capacity as Sarawak's prime example of rapid physical development,  socio-economic progress, urban population growth and proper town planning.

Date taken : September, 2021.

 

Date taken : August, 1990.

Recent Developments around the former Roundabout 3

View of Roundabout 3, at KM 5, Bintulu-Miri Road circa mid 80's.

Aerial view of Roundabout 3

Much have changed in the infrastructure developments around the former Roundabout 3.  The area is about 5 km from Bintulu town.  Today, we see mammoth signboards giving it an ultra urban look.  The roundabout has been turned into a traffic lights junction. The latest development can be seen at right of the picture below.  Many blocks of 3 and 4-storey shop houses have been completed, though not yet occupied at the point of writing.  The main site of the shop houses was previously  JKR's temporary stock pile area and an indoor badminton building was situated there too.
As Bintulu moved into its Millenial Era ( after its last fourth boom) and starting in 2016, it remains the brightest star in its capacity as Sarawak's prime example of rapid physical development,  socio-economic progress, urban population growth and proper town planning.

View of recent development around the former Roundabout 3, now Traffic Lights Junction at KM 5 Bintulu- Miri Road.
Date taken : 30 June,2021.

Date taken : 30 June,2021.
Camera: Redmi 9A h/p.

 

Jalan Sultan Iskandar 30 years later

Kidurong Highway 30 years later

Abang Galau and a road to his name

Me and Friends  at the road junction of Abang Galau road in 1975.
Note the typical wooden Malay houses prevalent at that time built along the road as seen in the background  and take note too of the tall palm trees in the background .

View of Jalan Abang Galau or Abang Galau Road from the middle portion ( in front of OKMS i.e. Orang Kaya Mohammed School) ) towards the town center.
Photo credits : Tuah, Adi B., Abon R., Daha S., Buding B., Ahip P. & Ritchie,  J. (  ) Dari Kampung Nelayan ke Industriopolis, Pejabat Pentadbiran Bahagian Bintulu, Bintulu.

There is a road that runs parallel to Jalan Mesjid or Mosque Road in Bintulu that was named after a local chieftan named Abang Galau. The  Abang Galau  Road is slightly less than one kilometer in length.  It starts from the Bintulu town centre traffic light junction ( Kepppel Road/ Pedada Road traffic lights junction) and ends close to the Sebiew River.

Abang Galau prominence as a local chieftan  during the days of the Brunei Sultanate's rule over Bintulu was well received by the Brooke's administration (Charles Brooke)  which subsequently endorsed him as the local dignitary to represent the natives community of Bintulu when the Sultan of Brunei ceded the Bintulu region  to the Brookes in 1861.  According to some reports, he is a descendant from the Punan or Orang Ulu  bloodline from the marriage of Pengiran Panji and Kendoh.

View of Jalan Abang Galau taken on 27 May,2016.
Note the hotel and shophouses at  the left of the picture. These new buildings were built under Phase Two of Kampung Dagang Commercial Centre project developed by Hock Peng Realty Sdn Bhd.  The first phase of the re-development of the Malay/Melanau villages along the Abang Galau Road  was undertaken by Bintulu Realty Estate Sdn Bhd. covering an area of 1.44 hectares involving  36 landowners. 

Jalan Abang Galau, taken on 27 May'16.
Note:  For more information on the development of the Kampung Dagang Commercial Centre, please follow this link...>>>http://bintulub4now.blogspot.my/2014/01/jalan-mesjid-at-kampung-dagang-in-1979.html

Abang Galau Road of the 60's.

 This is the section of the road that ends close to the Sebiew River.

In the 60's it was the sight of rubber and fruit tree gardens and Malay/Melanau kampungs or villages.

|The above picture shows Malay/ Melanau men wearing the Malay headress ("Songkok") when attending a wedding reception at a Muslim Melanau's  house beside the Abang Galau Road.

Aurora Link Road

Aurora Link Road in 1987
Note the Poui trees (Tabebuia rosea) trees planted on both sides of the two-lane single carriageway road.
View looking north-east towards the roundabout near present day Masjid Assyakiriin.

The road is widened to become a four lane dual carriage-way road.
Date taken : 29 October, 2014

 There is a link road that connects the Kidurong Highway to Tanjung Batu Road situated besides the Masjid Assyakiriin.  During the First Boom (1979 - 1983) the link road was called Aurora Link Road because the road led to the Aurora Beach Hotel.  The Aurora Beach Hotel played an important role during the First Boom because it was big enough to accommodate the hundreds of expatriates especially Koreans and Americans involved with the construction of the Bintulu Port and the Liquified Natural Gas plant at Tg. Kidurong.  These expatriates required reasonably good accommodation facilities which the old Bintulu town was unable to provide.   The hotel was speedily constructed within a year and was opened in 1979, largely using the  prefab system.  Basically the hotel rooms were made of metal containers or porta cabins.   The Aurora Link Road was constructed in 1977-78 by the JKR to link the hotel (situated at Tanjung Batu Road)  to the Kidurong Highway thus providing a shortcut  to reach the Kidurong Highway in good time.

During the First Boom the Aurora Beach hotel was quite an institution by itself in booming Bintulu. The hotel provided many entertainment outlets like lounges, restaurants, dance halls, night clubs, offices and even banking (Bank Utama), besides the normal rooms.

From aerial photo to satellite image - Roundabout 1 - 3

For more story about the development of Bintulu's first major roundabouts i.e. Roundabout One to Three (R1-R3) please go to my posting in another blog here

The Kidurong Highway in 1990

The Kidurong highway road in August, 1990.
The road would serve as a main link from Bintulu town centre to Kidurong industrial zone, home to the major industrial projects which help propelled Bintulu into a series of economic booms starting  in 1979. Note the planting of easy or little maintenance and colourful shrubs at the central median.  The main shrubs planted for their colourful bracts are the Bouganvillea and Mussaenda species.

The Kidurong highway road , taken on 4 February, 2014.
Note the planting of Tabebuia rosea trees at the central median which was done in the mid 1990's.  The fully matured huge Angsana trees (Pterocarpus indicus) remains a unique character of Bintulu roadside landscaping which started in a big way in 1980's and continues to present day.

Any visitor who comes into Bintulu town will observe the extent of roadside landscaping done to the town which is not seen in other major towns of Sarawak, except the capital city of Sarawak i.e. Kuching.  The construction of roads infrastructure was critical for a booming town and it was envisioned early in the 1980's that the main roads would be of 4-lane dual carriageways to serve Bintulu's impending future growth and development in population, economic prospects, new townships and industrial zones. It was planned that the dual-carriageways would serve for at least a period of 20 years of continuous growth momentum in the Bintulu economic landscape.   One of the longest highway road linking Bintulu town to the new industrial zone of Kidurong was the Kidurong Highway road which is about 20 kilometers in length. In the 1980's the whole length of the road was planted with roadside trees, mainly the Angsana (Pterocarpus indicus) and Rain tree (Samanea saman) species.  Only in the mid 1990's were the central median of the highway planted with the Tabebuia rosea species.  There are many other species of roadside trees planted in Bintulu and to get some idea of the later species planted, please check them out in my blog here...>>>http://mybintuluclicks.blogspot.com/search/label/Roadside%20Trees

The Nyabau fishery station road in 1986

The road leading to Agriculture Department's fishery station - sometimes called Nyabau Fishery Station
Picture taken on 16 February 1981

 The existing Pantai Temasya is located at Tanjung Batu.  Further up Tanjung Batu going north is a place called Nyabau and in the 70's there was fishery station that was popularly visited by students and other interested parties especially for educational visits.  The road leading to the station was not very well maintained and at certain locations was disconnected because of many small streams that transversed it.  Today, a two-lane single carriageway replaces the old fishery station road and is an alternative route to reach Kidurong township by the Tanjung Batu coastal scenic road.  This road extension from Pantai Temasya is a popular beach destination for viewing the Bintulu sunset, family picnics and for many other relaxing activities related to the beach or sea like photography, sightseeing, jogging,etc.

Today a proper 2-lane single carriageway replaces the old earth road. This road is an extension from the Pantai Temasya and passes the Bintulu Golf Course (2nd Nine or Links Course) and leads to the ABF (Asean Bintulu
Fertiliser) housing site.
Date taken : 30 January, 2014.

This new extension road from Pantai Temasya is very well utilised because it provides people staying at the Kidurong township an alternative route to their housing area which is less busy than the main Kidurong highway and offers a much pleasant driving experience with a view of the sea.  This extension road together with the existing one starting at Taman Tumbina and passing the Pantai Temasya may just as well be referred to as "Jalan Pantai Temasya".

Roundabout 3 in 1990

Roundabout 3 - view looking towards Bintulu- Miri Road
Location : The R 3 is located 3 miles ( 5 km)  from Bintulu town centre
Date taken : 14 August,1990

 In 1990 there were four roundabouts in Bintulu.  The picture above shows the Roundabout 3, located at Km 5, Bintulu- Miri Road.  It was the biggest roundabout in Bintulu in the 1990's.  Over time all the four roundabouts were replaced with traffic lights junctions.  The building on top of the hill to the right is located within the Bintulu Police Divisional complex.  The yellow cover at the foreground are the yellow variety leaves of the Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) which was a popular ground cover for landscaping in the 1990's.  In the 1990's the landscaping and beautification of Bintulu were a cooperative effort involving three major agencies..i.e. the JKR (Public Works), SESCO and BDA. 

Traffic Lights junction replaced the roundabout
Picture taken : 28 January, 2014.

Aerial view of Roundabout 3 showing the landscaping works at the roundabout and traffic islands surrounding it.
Date taken : circa 1990
Note the striking yellow colours of the Sweet potato cover plant at the traffic islands surrounding the roundabout.
The roadside planting and roundabouts landscaping during this time were  mainly advised by Arthur George Alphonso, Bintulu's first horticultural consultant....go here to see some other projects George was involved in Bintulu ..>>http://mybintuluhistory.blogspot.com/2007/09/bintulus-first-horticultural-consultant.html

Tanjung Batu Scenic Road in the late 1980's

The Tanjung Batu Scenic Road - under construction in the late 80's

 One of the major impacts of the first economic boom (1979 - 1983) was the growth of population in the Bintulu town and the new satellite township of Kidurong.  With increased number of temporary and permanent workforce to the town the need for recreational activities grew.  One of the projects undertaken by the Bintulu Development Authority (BDA) was the construction of beach facilities and a bird's park which was later named Wildlife Park or Taman Hidupan Liar in Malay.  Upon adopting  the masterplan for the development of the Tanjung Batu recreational reserve area in 1985, works on providing improved roads infrastructure to the beach and park areas started in the late 1980's in earnest.  The above picture shows the construction of the Tg. Batu Scenic Road, showing the section going down towards the Aurora Beach Hotel.

Tanjung Batu Scenic Road as seen today....20 December, 2013.

Today the road is a one-lane dual carriageway with a small lane for bicycles and motorcycles incorporated.  The building on the right is Bintulu's first high-rise beach condominium project.  With proper facilities and amenities provided at Tg. Batu recreational reserve area, tourism activities picked up with visitors both domestic and foreign attracted to the beautiful scenery, breeze and many recreational activites at the beach like swimming, picnics,jogging, family gathering or outing, beach games,photography and sunset viewing. Entrance to the beach is free. Visitors especially school children crowd the Wildlife Park especially at weekends and school holidays to see many zoo animals, birds and botanic collections at the park, which is now popularly called "Taman Tumbina" in Malay.

Roundabout Two in mid 1980's

The above roundabout was called Roundabout Two in the 1980's
It was well-landscaped and turfed. The stretch of roadside trees  are Angsana (Pterocarpus indicus)

 In the above picture the white building at the top left corner is the "Dewan Suarah"or civic centre.  The Dewan Suarah was built at the cost of RM 7 million and was opened on 5 July, 1988.

Date taken : 27 September,2013.
In place of the Roundabout Two, the local authority (BDA) introduced the traffic lights junction and was fully operational in early 2012.

When the local authority introduced a traffic lights junction to replace the roundabout, a new dual carriageway was built as alternative route to the Bintulu town ( as seen at the bottom left of the picture).