ROAD IMPROVEMENTS
Volume likely to rise due to IR, new condos; works to start in June
By Maria Almenoar
THE roads leading to Sentosa, VivoCity and HarbourFront will be widened to cater to an anticipated increase in traffic into the area.
With one of Singapore's two integrated resorts opening on Sentosa and new condominiums to be built in the area by 2010, traffic is likely to go up by 30 per cent, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) yesterday.
The Sentosa Gateway junction at Telok Blangah Road now sees about 6,000 cars during the evening peak period.
By 2010, the number will likely be between 8,000 and 9,000.
LTA director of transport planning Lina Lim told reporters yesterday: 'Without the improvement works, I think we would expect very long queues and not being able to clear junctions...'
The road widening works, expected to begin in June and be completed in 11/2 years, will span a 2km stretch from the junction of Keppel and Kampong Bahru roads to the junction of Telok Blangah and Henderson roads.
Related Video Link - http://tinyurl.com/2a3m8u# An extra lane will be added to both sides of Telok Blangah Road, to give each side four lanes;
# Another lane will be kept specially for cars turning left into Sentosa Gateway from west-bound Telok Blangah Road, to make two left-turn lanes;
# Another lane will be added for vehicles turning right into Sentosa Gateway from east-bound Telok Blangah Road, making three lanes there;
# Adding an extra left-turn lane for vehicles going from Sentosa Gateway to Telok Blangah Road, to make three lanes there.
Other changes: Kampong Bahru Road will be widened, and improvements will be made to the Henderson Road/Telok Blangah Road junction and the HarbourFront Walk/Telok Blangah Road junction.
The viaduct which takes cars overhead, in front of VivoCity mall, will have an extra exit built from it.
An exit will be created near Morse Road, just before Henderson Road, which will enable motorists to bypass the HarbourFront area and at least four traffic lights.
Miss Hwang E-wan, a 25-year-old investment banking analyst who lives along Wishart Road off Telok Blangah Road, is glad for this.
To get home, she usually goes through the jam outside VivoCity.
'The alternative is to use the Alexandra Road exit and then make a U-turn back to my house. This will help me escape all that.'
A VivoCity spokesman said that traffic in the area was generally fine on weekdays but can build up on Fridays, weekends and public holidays.
Sentosa said its plans to increase the number of arrival lanes and to move its admission booths inland would complement LTA's plans.
An electronic parking guidance system will also be introduced in the HarbourFront area.
Large signboards will alert motorists where carpark lots are available, which will cut down congestion by reducing the number of cars circling the area looking for lots.
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