Expressways of Singapore

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Expressways of Singapore
新加坡高速公路
Rangkaian Lebuhraya Singapura
Singapore road sign - Informatory - Expressway begins - Type II.svg
Symbol of the Singaporean expressways
Expressways and Semi-expressways of Singapore 2012.png
Map of the Singaporean expressway network as of 2012
System information
Maintained by Land Transport Authority (LTA)
Length163 km (101 mi)
Formed1966
Highway names
ExpresswaysExpressway AAA (AAA)
System links
Clementi section of the Ayer Rajah Expressway. AYE-SG.JPG
Clementi section of the Ayer Rajah Expressway.
The Pan Island Expressway at Toa Payoh. Lines for lane, shoulder and median, as well as lane numbers and an EMAS signboard, are all visible in the photo. Jln Toa Payoh bef Kim Keat 20060402.JPG
The Pan Island Expressway at Toa Payoh. Lines for lane, shoulder and median, as well as lane numbers and an EMAS signboard, are all visible in the photo.
The Bukit Timah Expressway is part of the Asian Highway Network. Bukit Timah Expressway.jpg
The Bukit Timah Expressway is part of the Asian Highway Network.

The expressways of Singapore are special roads that allow motorists to travel quickly from one urban area to another. Construction of the system was authorized when construction of the Pan Island Expressway began in 1962. All of them are dual carriageways with grade-separated access. They usually have three to four lanes in each direction, although there are two-lane carriageways at many expressway intersections and five-lane carriageways in some places. There are currently ten expressways and studies about the feasibility of more are ongoing.

Contents

Construction on the first expressway, the Pan Island Expressway, started in 1966. As of 2014, there are 163 kilometres (101 mi) of expressways in Singapore. [1]

The Singaporean expressway networks are connected with Malaysian expressway networks via Ayer Rajah Expressway (connects with the Second Link Expressway in Malaysia) and Bukit Timah Expressway (connects with the Johor Bahru Eastern Dispersal Link Expressway via Johor–Singapore Causeway).

History

Chronology of major events
DateEventsRemarks
15 April 1962Construction of the Pan Island Expressway (PIE) begins.Construction during full internal self-government of Singapore
8 May 1966First phase of the Pan Island Expressway (PIE) completed.

Construction of the second phase of the PIE begins.

Whitley Road: Mount Pleasant Flyover - Thomson Flyover - Jalan Toa Payoh - Jalan Kolam Ayer - Paya Lebar Way
14 December 1970Toa Payoh Flyover, Singapore's first flyover is opened to motorists.Length: 1.2 kilometres
23 January 1971Construction of the East Coast Parkway (ECP) begins with the land reclamation of East Coast.
12 December 1974First phase of the East Coast Parkway (ECP) completed.Fort Road – Marine Parade
Formerly called Bedok Highway
15 July 1975Planning for the Sembawang Expressway begins from Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 to Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1.
22 February 1976Second phase of the East Coast Parkway (ECP) completed.Marine Parade – Bedok South Road
Formerly called Bedok Highway
30 September 1976 Pan Island Expressway (PIE) completed and opened.Adam Road - Jalan Anak Bukit
1 January 1977Planning for the Sembawang Expressway was extended to Yio Chu Kang Road.
19 January 1980 Pan Island Expressway (PIE) completed and opened.Whitley Road - Adam Road
22 January 1980Third phase of the East Coast Parkway (ECP) completed.Bedok South Road – Changi Airport
It was renamed to East Coast Parkway
15 March 1980Third phase of the Pan Island Expressway (PIE) completed.Jalan Eunos - Changi Airport
25 April 1980 Pan Island Expressway (PIE) completed and opened.Hong Kah Drive - Jalan Boon Lay
25 October 1980 Pan Island Expressway (PIE) completed and opened.Jalan Eunos - Bedok North Road
10 January 1981 Pan Island Expressway (PIE) completed and opened.Bedok North Road - East Coast Parkway
29 January 1981 Pan Island Expressway (PIE) completed and opened.Hong Kah Drive - Jalan Anak Bukit
18 April 1981Opening of the Benjamin Sheares Bridge on the East Coast Parkway (ECP) and the completion of the ECP phase 4 from Fort Road to Keppel Road.ECP Length: 20 kilometres
ECP phase 4: Fort Road - Keppel Road
11 July 1981Construction of the Sembawang Expressway (renamed to Central Expressway) begins.
20 December 1981Fourth phase of the Pan Island Expressway (PIE) completed.Jalan Anak Bukit - Jurong Road
5 March 1983Construction of the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) begins.
31 March 1983Opening of the Central Expressway (CTE) Phase 1.Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 - PIE
23 September 1983Construction of the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) begins.
18 May 1985Opening of the Central Expressway (CTE) Phase 1.PIE - Thomson Road
22 January 1986Opening of the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE).Length: 10 kilometres
1 July 1986Construction of the Central Expressway (CTE) phase 2 including Kampong Java Tunnel and Chin Swee Tunnel.Cavenagh Road was closed to make way for the construction of Central Expressway.
16 July 1987Public telephones along the Bukit Timah Expressway, Central Expressway, East Coast Parkway, Pan Island Expressway and Ayer Rajah Expressway were converted into exclusively emergency phones by 6 pm yesterday. Only calls for assistance to the police, fire and ambulance and breakdown service are possible from 74 emergency telephones.
30 September 1987Opening of the Tampines Expressway (TPE) phase 1.PIE - Elias Road
24 December 1987Construction of the Tampines Expressway (TPE) phase 2.Elias Road - Lorong Halus
24 September 1988Construction of the Central Expressway (CTE) phase 2 from Ayer Rajah Expressway to Outram Road.
5 November 1988Opening of the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE).Keppel Viaduct - Jurong Town Hall Road
15 April 1989Opening of the Seletar Expressway (SLE) phase 1.Lentor Avenue - Upper Thomson Road
2 June 1989Opening of the Tampines Expressway (TPE) phase 1.Elias Road - Old Tampines Road
17 June 1989Opening of the Central Expressway (CTE) phase 1.Yio Chu Kang Road – Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1
Opened by: Mr Heng Chiang Meng
24 March 1990Opening of the Seletar Expressway (SLE) phase 1.Yio Chu Kang Road – Lentor Avenue
11 May 1991The completion of the Central Expressway (CTE) phase 2 including Kampong Java Tunnel and Chin Swee Tunnel.Length: 15.8 kilometres
21 September 1991Opening of the Central Expressway (CTE) phase 2 including Kampong Java Tunnel and Chin Swee Tunnel.Length: 15.8 kilometres
31 October 1991Construction of the Kranji Expressway (KJE) begins.
5 December 1993Opening of the Pan Island Expressway (PIE).Jurong Road - Upper Jurong Road
20 February 1994Opening of the Kranji Expressway (KJE).Length: 8 kilometres
29 November 1994Construction of the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) phase 2 begins.Jurong Town Hall Road - Corporation Road
5 November 1995Opening of the Seletar Expressway (SLE) phase 2.Bukit Timah Expressway – Woodlands Avenue 2
3 September 1996Opening of the Tampines Expressway (TPE) phase 2.Old Tampines Road - SLE
2 January 1998Opening of the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) phase 2.Jurong Town Hall Road - Tuas Second Link
22 February 1998Opening of the Seletar Expressway (SLE) phase 2.Length: 10.8 kilometres
Woodlands Avenue 2 - Upper Thomson Road

Opened by: Mr John Chen Seow Phun, Minister of State for Communications

22 August 1998Opening of the Tampines Expressway viaduct connecting PIE and TPE.
September 1998The Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) systems is implemented on all expressways.
2001Construction of the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway begins.
2004The SOS telephones were removed on all expressways except for tunnels.
23 June 2007Opening of the Tampines Service Road, currently part of the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE).
26 October 2007Opening of the Kallang–Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE), the longest subterranean road tunnel in Southeast Asia.ECP - PIE
March 2008Construction of the Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) begins.
20 September 2008Official opening of the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE).Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
PIE - TPE
29 December 2013Opening of the Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE), Singapore's first undersea expressway.Length: 5 kilometres
The East Coast Parkway was shortened to Sheares Avenue.

Expansion

The latest expressway completed is the 5 km Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE), which links the East Coast Parkway and Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway to Marina South and Ayer Rajah Expressway and includes Singapore's first undersea tunnel. Construction started in 2008 and the expressway opened to traffic 29 December 2013. [2] [3] Prior to construction of the Marina Coastal Expressway, the Kallang–Paya Lebar Expressway which runs for 12 km, 9 km of which are 10 metres underground, was started in 2001 and a 3 km section linking the Pan Island Expressway and East Coast Parkway was opened in late 2007. The Kallang–Paya Lebar Expressway was completed on 20 September 2008.

Construction of the 11th expressway, the North–South Corridor, originally conceptualised as the North-South Expressway, was announced on 30 January 2008. The new 21.5-kilometre expressway will cost about S$7.47 billion when fully completed by 2029 and will connect the East Coast Parkway with the northern parts of Singapore. [4] In 2016, the Land Transport Authority announced that the North–South Corridor will be Singapore’s first integrated transport corridor featuring continuous bus lanes and cycling trunk routes, rather than a normal expressway when originally conceptualised.

Features

Like all other global controlled-access expressway network, there are no traffic lights on the expressways. At an interchange with another road, an expressway is connected to it via slip roads. This allows traffic to change routes without having to stop or slow down. Due to the need to conserve space in land-scarce Singapore, there are no cloverleaf interchanges on the entire island as they are too large. Instead, traffic efficiency and land space are maximized by having traffic lights on terrestrial roads, as well as the usage of interchanges such as stack interchanges. The most common forms of highway-road or highway-highway intersections are single-point urban, diamond, and trumpet interchanges. Newer expressways such as the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway and the future North South Corridor uses on-ramps and off-ramps to conserve space even further and minimize disruption to the road system, through the construction of viaducts and tunnels.

The road surface is asphalt, unlike normal roads which may have concrete surfaces. The lanes are separated with white dashed lines, while unbroken white lines are used to mark the edges of the median and shoulder. The shoulder is reserved for stops due to breakdowns and emergencies, and motorists are prohibited by law from travelling on it. Lanes are numbered from right to left, with lane 1 being the closest to the median. Crash barriers, cat's eyes and rumble strips are also used to ensure road safety.

There are signs marking the start and end of an expressway at its entry and exit points respectively. The expressways are also assigned route codes consisting three letters that form their respective initials, making the Singaporean expressway network as the only highway system with route coding system. The Expressway Monitoring and Advisory System is used on all the expressways—cameras are used for live monitoring of expressway conditions, and LED signboards display information messages, such as warnings of any disruptions to the normal flow of traffic, as well as estimated travel times. The longest expressway, the Pan Island Expressway, is only 41 km (25 mi) long and therefore has no rest areas.

Singaporean expressways are the only highway network in Singapore with their own route codes. They are assigned with three-letter codes named after their respective initials where the last letter is always E; for example, PIE for the Pan Island Expressway. The only exception is the East Coast Parkway (ECP) whose the last letter is other than E.

Safety

The default speed limit and National Speed Limits on Singapore expressways is 90 km/h (56 mph), but in certain areas a lower speed limit such as 80 km/h (50 mph) or 70 km/h (43 mph) is applied, especially in large urban areas, tunnels, heavy traffic and crosswinds. Speed traps are also deployed by the Singapore police at many places along the expressways and are deployed from 7am to 12am.

Certain types of transport, such as pedestrians, bicycles, and learner drivers, are not allowed.

List of Expressways

Ranking of the Length from Longest to Shortest
Rank NumberExpressway NameAbbreviationOpenedLengthExit TerminusRemarks
1st Pan Island Expressway PIE196642.8 km (26.6 mi) Changi Airport, ECP
Tuas, AYE 		Longest and oldest expressway in Singapore. Designated as AH2 from Stevens Road exit to BKE exit .
2nd Ayer Rajah Expressway AYE198826.5 km (16.5 mi) MCE
Tuas Checkpoint, Tuas Second Link 		Directly connected to MCE. Part of AH143.
3rd North–South Corridor NSC2029 (planned) [4] 21.5 km (13.4 mi)Admiralty Road West
ECP, Republic Avenue and Nicoll Highway 		Construction started in 2018, and is now estimated to be complete by 2029. The NSC will be Singapore’s first integrated transport corridor featuring continuous bus lanes and cycling trunk routes.
4th East Coast Parkway ECP197416 km (9.9 mi) Changi Airport, PIE
Sheares Avenue
5th Central Expressway CTE198915.8 km (9.8 mi) SLE, TPE
AYE 		This expressway has two tunnels, Kampong Java Tunnel and Chin Swee Tunnel. Directly connected to SLE.
6th Tampines Expressway TPE198914 km (8.7 mi) SLE, CTE
PIE
Upper Changi Road East
7th Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway KPE200812 km (7.5 mi) MCE, ECP
TPE 		The expressway has the longest road tunnel in Singapore. Directly connected to MCE. Part of AH143.
8th Seletar Expressway SLE199010.8 km (6.7 mi) BKE, Turf Club Avenue
CTE 		Directly connected to CTE.
9th Bukit Timah Expressway BKE198610 km (6.2 mi) PIE
Woodlands Checkpoint, Johor–Singapore Causeway 		Part of AH2.
10th Kranji Expressway KJE19948 km (5.0 mi) BKE
PIE
11th Marina Coastal Expressway MCE20135 km (3.1 mi) AYE
Fort Road, ECP, KPE 		Singapore's first undersea expressway. Directly connected to KPE and AYE. Part of AH143.

Semi-expressways

Singapore also has five semi-expressways: Bukit Timah Road, Jurong Island Highway, Nicoll Highway, the Outer Ring Road System (ORRS) and West Coast Highway. These semi-expressways are scaled down versions of expressways, without a uniform speed limit. Some sections still feature traffic light controlled junctions, such as the eastern section of the ORRS, some of Bukit Timah Road, the southern section of the Jurong Island Highway and the western sections of Nicoll Highway and West Coast Highway. However, much like with the expressways, semi-expressways allow motorists to travel quickly from one urban area to another with the use of viaducts, overpasses and tunnels.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Expressways in Singapore: Did you know?". The Highway. Automobile Association of Singapore. July 2001. Archived from the original on 10 March 2006. Retrieved 5 April 2006.
  2. ↑ "Marina expressway to be ready by year-end". The Straits Times. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  3. ↑ "Singapore's first undersea road—Marina Coastal Expressway—set to open on Dec 29". The Straits Times. 13 November 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Road tunnel portion of North-South Corridor delayed by two years to 2029". The Straits Times . 3 July 2023. Archived from the original on 29 July 2023. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
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