| Country: | MYS |
| Type: | E |
| Route: | 15 |
| Alternate Name: | Butterworth–Kulim Expressway |
| Maint: | PLUS Malaysia Berhad with its subsidiary Projek Lebuhraya Usahasama Berhad (Former concessionaries known as Konsortium Lebuhraya Butterworth-Kulim (KLBK) Sdn Bhd) |
| Length Km: | 17 |
| Length Round: | 1 |
| Map Notes: | BKE in red |
| Map Custom: | yes |
| Direction A: | West |
| Terminus A: | Butterworth, Penang |
| Junction: | Butterworth Outer Ring Road Butterworth–Seberang Jaya Toll Road North–South Expressway Northern Route Federal Route 136 Jalan Kulim Hi-Tech East–West Highway |
| Direction B: | East |
| Terminus B: | Lunas, Kedah |
| Formed: | 1994 |
| History: | Completed in 1996, opened on 15 November 1996 |
| Destinations: | Butterworth, Seberang Jaya, Prai, Permatang Pauh, Lunas, Kulim, Baling |
Butterworth–Kulim Expressway, BKE, (Malay: Lebuhraya Butterworth–Kulim), is the only opened toll system's expressway in Penang, Malaysia. The 17km (11miles) expressway connects Butterworth, Penang in the west to Lunas, Kedah in the east. It is also a main route to East–West Highway (Federal Route 4) via Baling, Kedah and Gerik, Perak.
The Butterworth–Kulim Expressway E15 is an east–west oriented expressway and is concurrent with the Federal Route 4 and Asian Highway Route AH140 along its entire length. The actual starting point of the expressway is counted as Kilometre 5. Many maps have mistakenly labelled the section between Exit 1501 Kubang Sebang Interchange and Butterworth as a part of the E15 expressway; that is incorrect because the remaining 5-km section is not maintained by PLUS Malaysia Berhad but rather by Lingkaran Luar Butterworth (Penang) Sdn. Bhd.[1]
The zeroth kilometre is located at Jalan Heng Choon Thian at Butterworth Outer Ring Road's Container Terminal Interchange.
The construction of BKE started in December 1994 and was completed in September 1996.
Konsortium Lebuhraya Butterworth-Kulim (KLBK) Sdn Bhd, commercially known as Buterworth Kulim Expressway (BKE), a wholly owned subsidiary of PLUS Expressway Berhad ("PLUS Expressways",) has been awarded the concession and contract to construct and operate the highway of dual two-lane carriageway with separate motorcycle tracks and related highway facilities for the 16.78 km highway. The concession period is for 32 years (June 1994 to June 2026, including two years construction period), after which the highway will be transferred to the Government. On 2011, the company was taken over to PLUS Malaysia Berhad and its subsidiary Projek Lebuhraya Usahasama Berhad.
The Butterworth–Kulim Expressway uses opened toll systems.
As part of an initiative to facilitate faster transaction at the Lunas and Kubang Semang Toll Plazas, all toll transactions at both toll plazas on the Butterworth–Kulim Expressway will be conducted electronically via PLUSMiles, Touch 'n Go cards or SmartTAGs starting 9 September 2015. As of December 2018, the Kubang Semang Toll Plaza and the Lunas Toll Plaza have MyRFID activated on the rightmost lanes sharing the same lanes with those of SmartTAG's lanes. This allows users of MyRFID users to fully utilize those fast lane.
(Since 1 February 2020)
| Class | Types of vehicles | Rate (in Malaysian Ringgit (RM)) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Motorcycles (Vehicles with two axles and two wheels) | Free | |
| 1 | Private Cars (Vehicles with two axles and three or four wheels (excluding taxis and buses)) | 1.31 | |
| 2 | Vans and other small goods vehicles (Vehicles with two axles and six wheels (excluding buses)) | 3.20 | |
| 3 | Large Trucks (Vehicles with three or more axles (excluding buses)) | 4.80 | |
| 4 | Taxis | 0.65 | |
| 5 | Buses | 1.31 |
The Butterworth–Kulim Expressway is a 4-lane dual-carriageway expressway which allows highway users to drive at a maximum speed of 90 km/h. Upon approaching any toll plazas, highway users have to drive no faster than 60 km/h.
| km | Exit | Interchange | To | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Butterworth Outer Ring Road (NBCT-Sungai Nyior Side) Sungai Nyior Butterworth Bagan Ajam Perai George Town (Ferry) | |||||
| Butterworth Outer Ring Road (NBCT-Sungai Nyior Side) LLB border limit | |||||
0 0 | |||||
| Butterworth-Kulim Expressway PLUS Expressways border limit | |||||
| 163 | Seberang Jaya Interchange | Multi-level stacked roundabout interchange | |||
5 | 1501 | Permatang Pauh Interchange | Jalan Permatang Pauh Permatang Pauh Bukit Mertajam UiTM Permatang Pauh Campus | Diamond interchange | |
| Kubang Semang Toll Plaza KSTP MyRFID]] Opened toll system Pay toll | |||||
| Kubang Semang Toll Plaza KSTP | East bound | ||||
| Sungai Kubang Semang bridge | |||||
| 1503 | Permatang Nibong Interchange | Permatang Nibong Kubang Semang Penanti | Half diamond interchange | ||
| Railway crossing bridge | |||||
| 1505 | Tasik Mengkuang Interchange | Penanti Berapit Kulim Bukit Mertajam Tokun Hill Bukit Mertajam Recreation Area Institut Perguruan Tuanku Bainun (IPTB) | Diamond interchange | ||
| Penanti Rest and Service Areas and Overhead Bridge Restaurant | Petronas Shell | Both bound | |||
| Penang Seberang Perai Tengah district border | |||||
| Kedah-Penang border | |||||
| Kedah Darul Aman Kulim district border | |||||
| Lunas toll plaza LNS | West bound | ||||
| Lunas toll plaza LNS MyRFID]] Opened toll system Pay toll | |||||
| Sungai Kulim bridge | |||||
| 1508 | Lunas Interchange | North Kuala Ketil Padang Serai Lunas Town Centre South Kulim Mahang | Diamond interchange | ||
| 21.7 | Sungai Seluang Junctions | North Jalan Sungai Seluang Sungai Seluang Sidam Padang Serai Southeast Jalan Perusahan Kulim Industrial Area | Junctions | ||
| Kulim Hi-Tech Junctions | South Jalan Kulim Hi-Tech Kulim Hi-Tech Sungai Kob Karangan | Junctions | |||
| Butterworth-Kulim Expressway Start/End of Expressway PLUS Expressways border limit | |||||
21.9 | |||||
| East–West Highway Start/End of highway JKR border limit | |||||
| East East–West Highway Baling Gerik Jeli Tanah Merah Kota Bharu | |||||