ENGINEERING NOSTALGIA
INGENIEUR
The Old Bentong
Road aka Federal
Route 68
By Cheo Hong Keyong
The Old Bentong road, presently
known as Federal Route 68,
was formerly known as Federal
Route 2 (FT2). The original road
was built in 1915 with a total
length of 59.8 km with most
sections of road upgraded
from logging tracks. At the
western end, the road starts in
Setapak and is also known as
the Gombak Road. It ends at
Ketari village at the eastern end
near Bentong town. The narrow
winding road with its sharp
corners, deep ravines and lack
of safety features, is dangerous
especially during heavy storms
which often bring down tree
branches. Before 1970s, it was
common sight to see a long trail
of vehicles behind slow moving
timber lorries carrying logs from
Pahang making their way to
the sawmills in Kuala Lumpur.
Driving from Bentong to Kuala
Lumpur could take many hours
along the winding road.
According to old Bentong
folks, some shops in the 1950s
used to hire bullock carts to
carry supplies from Kuala
Lumpur to Bentong using the
old road.
In 1974, a new alternate
parallel road from Setapak was
constructed with a 914.4m
tunnel called the Genting
Sempah tunnel. The 75.2 km toll
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highway was opened to traffic
on January 7, 1978 and was
named Federal Route 2 (FT2).
As a result, the old Bentong
road was re - gazet ted as
Federal Route 68. FT2 was later
upgraded to a fully controlledaccess expressway in 1994 and
renamed E8.
The old Bentong Road
or Route FT 68 starting at
the Setapak Interchange is
a dual carriageway. After the
interchange, it becomes a single
carriageway with a 60 km/h
speed limit due to its narrow
width. After Kampong Rumput,
it becomes more winding with a
reduced speed limit of 50 km/h.
At this point, the road begins
ascending the Titiwangsa Range
until it reaches the SelangorPahang border where it joins
the Genting Sempah –Genting
Highlands Highway until the
Genting Sempah roundabout
which links route FT68 with
the Kuala Lumpur- Kar ak
Expressway.
From Genting Sempah,
Route FT 68 descends the
Titiwangsa Range, passing Bukit
Tinggi village and menders along
the Bentong river until it reaches
Ketari village on the outskirts of
Bentong town.
With less traffic now after the
E2 expressway was opened as a