TAIPING: The construction of a new tolled road between Klang, Selangor and Changkat Jering here will begin soon.



Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir said the 312km highway would cost RM7bil.



Yesterday, concessionaire IJM Corporation Bhd briefed the state on the highway’s alignment.



“The state wants to ensure the alignment benefits the state,” Dr Zambry said after chairing the weekly state executive council meeting in Air Kuning near here.



The alignment, he said, would pass through areas that were not fully developed.



“The new alignment will help boost growth of new areas,” he said.



“Although the contractor had planned to start the project in Selangor first, Perak has asked them to do it simultaneously with the Selangor stretch,” he said, adding that the project was expected to be completed in 2014.



On the Taman Kemuncak columbarium project in Ipoh, which was rejected by the Ipoh City Council last week, Dr Zambry said the developer, Haluan Ikhlas Sdn Bhd, had not approached the state for assistance.



Datuk Bandar Datuk Roshidi Hashim said the council’s 23-member special committee had unanimously decided against the project after looking at the building concept, objections by residents and views of the various technical departments.