TO tackle the anticipated traffic growth at the Sentosa and HarbourFront areas, the Land Transport Authority announced a series of upgrades on Monday to the road network there.

The scope of the improvements include:

• Widening of Sentosa Gateway and stretches of Telok Blangah Road and Kampung Bahru Road by a one lane each way.
• Converting the existing up-ramp which links Telok Blangah Road (near Henderson Road) to the city-bound West Coast Highway viaduct to a down-ramp, so that vehicles can use the viaduct and exit at Henderson Road instead of going through Telok Blangah Road.
• Construction of a new up-ramp which will link Telok Blangah Road to the city-bound West Coast Highway to replace the converted ramp.

LTA says the upgrades will improve the traffic capacity of the roads in the area by about 30 per cent.

Currently the junction of Telok Blangah Road and Sentosa Gateway sees about 6,000 cars during peak hours. And that number is expect to rise to 9,000 when Resorts World at Sentosa is completed in 2010.

About 20 per cent of the traffic, especially those heading west after the Sentosa Gateway Junction, is expected to make use of the viaduct and bypass the traffic junctions on Telok Blangah Road.

Construction is expected to start in June and completed by January 2010.