By Maria Almenoar
LIKE most people who drive to work, I have a tried-and- tested route.
I take the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) from Simei Avenue near where I live and use the Toa Payoh exit to get to News Centre in Toa Payoh North.
No other route has come close in terms of time or distance. My 15km trip takes me 21 minutes.
But yesterday's opening of the first phase of the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) trims my travelling time, even if I have to drive a little further.
Getting to the PIE via the KPE and the East Coast Parkway (ECP) means travelling 16 km, but it takes 19 minutes - two minutes less.
I start from the Bedok South entrance to the ECP, turn off into the KPE before the Benjamin Sheares bridge and then get onto the PIE just before the Toa Payoh exit.
Two minutes may not seem like a lot, but multiply that by two trips a day and 260 working days a year, and I save 17 hours a year!
This route also means I escape much of the infamous PIE congestion.
And travelling on the leafy ECP has always been a more pleasant experience, with fewer motorists changing lanes to exit or enter the expressway.
My routes home or to after-work activities are likely to change as well.
Making my way to a sports club near Fort Road in the Kallang area after work was made more convenient recently with the new flyover connecting the PIE east-bound to Sims Avenue.
But a quick test yesterday found that the new KPE section from Sims Avenue to Fort Road was a 5km-long drive, including the entrance and exit driveway, and took me all of five minutes.
That's a snap compared to taking 11 minutes driving along Sims Avenue past Mountbatten Road.
The KPE tunnel was also well-lit and its white walls made it an agreeable drive.
But I did spot two points in the KPE system that might spell trouble for motorists.
First, the entrance to the KPE on the ECP west-bound, just before the Benjamin Sheares bridge, is difficult to negotiate, especially for those unfamiliar with the road.
The second is that the sign for the turn-off from the KPE to the ECP south-bound was too close to the exit, giving motorists little time to react.
Perhaps these kinks can be ironed out before the 12km-long KPE is fully opened late next year.
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3 comments:
Source : The Straits Times, Oct 27, 2007
Have Double-Forked Arrow At Exit To KPE
I AM puzzled by what the Land Transport Authority has done on the ECP. Overnight, the lanes were redrawn on the westbound carriageway just after the ERP gantry, removing the left lane entirely to make it an exclusive exit to the KPE. As a result, there was a massive jam, all the way to Marine Parade.
It does not take a transport specialist to realise that heavy congestion would result if you suddenly reduce the capacity of a highway by 25 per cent.
So it seems that the city-bound ECP from the east is effectively gone.
Can I suggest that the leftmost lane be used by straight-through traffic as well as traffic exiting to the KPE, i.e., a double-forked arrow be painted.
Heng Zhao Weng
ECP is now congested, thanks to the KPE
A FEW years ago, when plans for the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) were announced, I wrote in to ask the Land Transport Authority whether the East Coast Parkway (ECP), in particular the stretch leading to the Benjamin Sheares Bridge, has the additional capacity to cope with the expected higher traffic volume.
Now the ECP (from before Fort Road to the Sheares Bridge) has become a CTE II.
Already, most motorists slow down when going up the bridge. Then we had a speed camera installed there, further reducing the average vehicle speed. Now with the KPE merging in, we have a bottleneck.
Perhaps the Marina Coastal Expressway should have been planned together with the KPE.
Teoh Chee Keong
Source : The Straits Times, Nov 1, 2007
More direction signs needed for expressway
I DROVE to Changi Airport using the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) on Saturday night and would like to highlight two areas where signs should be provided.
Along the PIE, when approaching Kallang Way, there was no sign to tell motorists to keep left and follow the Sims Avenue exit so as to branch out into the KPE.
Upon entering the KPE, I drove in the centre lane. After driving some distance, I could see a 'Y Split' exit from far.
But I could not see which exit was for Changi Airport. As a result, I could not decide whether I should filter to the left. By the time I saw the LED direction sign, it could have been too late to switch to the left lane.
Fortunately, traffic was very light and I could switch lane and exit to Changi Airport.
It is fine to position the LED sign at the exit point but there should be additional signs at least 200m earlier.
Philip Poon Sing Yang
Source : The Straits Times, Nov 1, 2007
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