Govt okays plan for new $2.5b Marina highway

Source : The Business Times,July 28, 2007

Phase One of KPE to open to traffic on Oct26: Raymond Lim

WHILE announcing that the $1.7 billion Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) will open in October, Transport Minister Raymond Lim yesterday unveiled plans for the new Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE).

Mr Lim said Phase One of the KPE will be opened to traffic on Oct26, while the rest of the expressway will be ready by end-2008.

The 12-km-long KPE stretches from the East Coast Parkway (ECP) at Fort Road to the Tampines Expressway.

Nine kilometres of the KPE consists of an underground tunnel, making it the longest underground expressway in South-east Asia, with its lowest point being 22m below the Geylang River.

Phase One is the section from the ECP to the PIE.

'With the KPE, motorists from Kallang, Geylang and the surrounding neighbourhoods, as well as those coming from the north, will have an alternative route, besides the PIE and CTE, to reach the CBD,' said Mr Lim.

He added that when the rest of the KPE is completed, residents in Hougang, Buangkok, Sengkang and Punggol will have a more direct route to the city centre. This will ease congestion on the CTE and cut travelling time from the north-east to the city by up to 25 per cent.

Mr Lim was speaking during a visit to the newly renovated Intelligent Transport Systems Centre on River Valley Road.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) monitors and manages the island's traffic flows from this state-of-the-art centre.

Mr Lim also announced that the government had approved the construction of the $2.5 billion MCE.

The 5-km, dual five-lane expressway will connect the KPE and ECP to the AYE, with direct connections to the Marina South and Straits View areas. A section of the project - 3.5km - will be underground and underwater.

LTA will start construction next year and finish by end-2013.

'When 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 comprising the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort, the Sail, the Marina Bay Financial Centre, as well as future developments,' said Mr Lim.

A total of 13.3ha of land reclamation will be carried out at Marina East and Marina Wharf to facilitate the building of the MCE, and part of the expressway will run along reclaimed land.