Viral photo fuels excitement for Kuching’s 8th Mile Flyover

July 14,2025

By:Cyril Dason

The proposed 8th Mile interchange (or popularly called ‘flyover’ by locals) has seen renewed interest this week as a photo (seen above) was sighted online, with the same photo going viral via instant messaging apps.

The crucial junction nearby SMK Wira Penrissen at the 8th Mile junction on Jalan Kuching-Serian has long been identified as a significant bottleneck within Kuching’s urban fabric.

This area experiences severe daily traffic congestion, particularly during the morning and evening peak hours, transforming daily commutes into a challenging ordeal for thousands of road users.

The collective community feedback vividly describes these commutes as an “absolute nightmare,” with “ridiculously long queues” leading to journeys of over an hour for relatively short distances, resulting in considerable physical and mental exhaustion for those affected.

Therefore, the photo of the proposed 8th Mile Flyover is much welcomed to many who frequent the road as it brings renewed hope that the promised flyover will start construction soon.

Details of the proposed 8th Mile Flyover

The 8th Mile Flyover is not part of the now almost completed Sarawak Pan Borneo Highway. Reports also suggest that the project however gained support from local politicians and is now a key development project with an allocation of RM480 million set aside to make sure it can be constructed.

As of July 2025, the project is reported to be in the design phase, with initial reports suggesting the flyover be completed by 2027, taking three years to complete.

With the flyover phase coinciding with the viral photo, it is not hard to believe that the image represents what one could expect when the flyover is fully completed.

Anyway, based on the photo, the following points can be concluded:

• MINSAR, a Sarawakian company which had built no less than 12 flyovers in Sarawak alone is involved in the project.
• The flyover will be one of the tallest outside of Kuching City with it having three layers of road, with the one connecting traffic from Samarahan being the highest placed.
• All routes on the flyover will be dual carriage.
• With the flyover, road users can expect a smooth journey between Kota Sentosa to 9th Mile.

Nonetheless, despite the photo, there is no official announcement related to the design of the 8th Mile Flyover, and therefore there is still a possibility of the design being changed in the near future.