Singapore Plans $8b North-South Expressway

Source : The Business Times, January 30, 2008

Singapore will spend up to $8 billion (US$5.6 billion) to build a new expressway spanning the island state to help ease growing congestion on its roads, a government minister said on Wednesday.

The announcement of the 21-km North-South Expressway (NSE) comes days after the government said it would spend US$14 billion to double Singapore's rail network, and after saying this month that it wanted more competition in the public bus sector.

Analysts say Singapore's investments on mega construction projects, that also include two casinos with a combined price tag of over US$8 billion and a US$1.3 billion water-front sports complex, could help boost economic growth as the city-state fights slowing exports - the economy's traditional mainstay.

Transport Minister Raymond Lim told reporters on Wednesday that the NSE, to be completed by 2020, will cut travel time by 30 per cent for residents living in the island's north heading to the central business district in the south.

He also announced an expansion of the electronic road pricing system, emulated in some European cities, where motorists pay to drive into city areas.

The aim is to 'encourage motorists to switch to public transport' to help reduce road congestion, which has increased by 25 per cent since 1999, he said.

'Against our ever growing appetite for car use, we are faced with the immutable realities of Singapore's situation: a compact city state with 12 per cent of its land already used up for roads,' he said.

The number of vehicles in Singapore, one of the most expensive places in the world to own a car due to high taxes and charges, hit 850,000 on an annual growth rate of 3 per cent.

Mr Lim said starting in 2009, the government will take steps aimed at lowering the vehicle population growth rate to 1.5 per cent. -- REUTERS