It is part of the KPE; new Marina Coastal Expressway also gets the go-ahead
From Oct 26 2007, motorists will be able to move between the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) and the East Coast Parkway (ECP) using a new 3km stretch of road tunnel.
Traffic from the PIE will head underground at Kallang Bahru before surfacing at the ECP near Fort Road, when the first phase of the $1.7 billion Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) opens.
The rest of the 12km expressway, which links housing estates in the north-east of Singapore to the PIE and the city, will open late next year.
Announcing the timetable yesterday, Transport Minister Raymond Lim said: 'When this happens, residents in Hougang, Buangkok, Sengkang and Punggol will have a more direct route to the city centre, and this will help ease congestion on the CTE.'
Travel time from the north-east to the city will be cut by up to 25 per cent, he added.
One person eager to make the switch from the Central Expressway (CTE) to the new KPE is MacPherson resident John Sam.
Get ready for a new addition (and a new abbreviation) to Singapore's network of expressways - the MCE or Marina Coastal Expressway.
Connecting the ECP to the AYE, the $2.5bil expressway - Singapore's most expensive - will connect the expected growth in city-bound traffic with the New Downtown in Marina Bay.
Video Link - http://tinyurl.com/382cpk (Straits Times Video News)
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The 49-year-old retail manager, who drives to the Central Business District for meetings regularly, said: 'If traffic along the KPE is smooth, I will definitely use that route instead of the CTE, where the ERP costs are very high and it is always congested.'
Just how much he will have to pay remains to be seen.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has installed two Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries along the stretch of KPE opening soon, but will adopt a wait-and-see approach. LTA chief Yam Ah Mee told reporters yesterday: 'We will monitor traffic speeds along the KPE on a monthly basis. If it drops below the optimum speed of 45kmh, we will begin ERP charges.'
But charges to the city, when travelling west-bound from the ECP and south-bound from the PIE, remain. Motorists will have to pay rates ranging from $1.00 to $2.50 when taking this route between 7.30am and 9.30am.
There is also the issue of preparing motorists for driving though South-east Asia's longest tunnel, which will stretch 9km when fully completed.
The consequences of a major accident or emergency in an underground tunnel can be far more serious, Mr Lim said.
'Drivers will need to be more careful in how they drive. It will be even more important for drivers to practise safe driving habits, such as staying in their lanes and keeping alert,' he said.
LTA will roll out a public education programme over the next three months on how to use the tunnel safely and how to get out in an emergency.
More safety information can be found on the KPE website at www.kpeunderground.sg
Just as work on the KPE winds down, Mr Lim said that the Government has given the go-ahead to start building a new 5km-long expressway, Singapore's 10th, which will link the ECP to the Ayer Rajah Expressway.
Branching off from the ECP just before the Marina Bay golf course, it will skirt the coastline and tunnel beneath the channel and under Marina South before emerging before the Marina Wharf area to link up with the AYE.
Mr Lim said: 'When it is completed in about six years' time, it will provide an additional high-speed link to the Marina Bay area to support the development of this new downtown.'
On completion in 2013, the Marina Coastal Expressway will also allow traffic to move from the east of the island to the west quickly, without cutting through the New Downtown.
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