Shorter New Route To The CITY

Source : Weekend TODAY, July 28, 2007

KPE will make it quicker for motorists from east, north























MOTORISTS from Kallang, Geylang and the surrounding neighbourhoods, as well as those coming from the north, will have an alternative route to reach the city when a part of the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) opens on Oct 26.

The 3km underground stretch will be a link for the areas and the Pan Island Expressway (PIE), to the East Coast Parkway (ECP).

Travel time from the East Coast to Paya Lebar area will be halved or reduced by almost 10 to 15 minutes.

And when the KPE is fully completed next year, travel time from the north-east to the city would be cut by up to 25 per cent, Transport Minister Raymond Lim said on Friday. During peak hours, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said island-wide travel time would be shortened by 6 per cent.

“Residents in Hougang, Buangkok, Sengkang and Punggol will have a more direct route to the city centre, and this will help to ease congestion on the CTE (Central Expressway),” Mr Lim said.

The KPE starts from the ECP in the south, continues under Upper Paya Lebar Road and Airport Road and connects to the Tampines Expressway (TPE). Nine km of the KPE will be underground, making it the longest underground expressway in South-east Asia.

Even as one expressway nears completion, Mr Lim said that the Government has given the green light for another — the Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE). When ready by end-2013, this will link the ECP and the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE).

“It (MCE) 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 other future developments,” Mr Lim said.

More importantly, LTA said it would allow valuable land to be used as the city area is extended into Marina Bay. Traffic will be diverted underground while a current 2km ECP stretch at Marina South will be realigned into a major arterial road.

Construction of the 5km dual five-lane MCE will start in the fourth quarter of next year and is estimated to cost $2.5 billion. The 12km-long KPE, in comparison, costs less at $1.7 billion.

The higher cost for the MCE was because construction costs have increased over the past few years, LTA chief executive Yam Ah Mee said.

LTA’s engineering group director Paul Fok said the MCE’s construction would also pose greater challenges. A 420m stretch, part of the 3.5km underground tunnel, would be built under the seabed. Engineers also have to consider the nearby Marina Barrage, where the reservoir will discharge water whenever there is a risk of looding.

To manage traffic on the KPE, two Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries will be installed. These will only be activated when traffic speeds fall below 45km/h.

One other ERP gantry will also be installed at the southbound KPE exit, near Fort Road, which links into the west-bound ECP. A KPE web portal, www.kpeunderground.sg, was launched on Friday by Mr Lim.