TWO flyovers will be built along the most congested stretches of the Central Expressway (CTE). They will be up by 2011.
One will allow northbound motorists exiting the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) to continue their journey on the CTE without competing with those using the Braddell exit on the CTE, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) yesterday.
The entry point to the PIE and the Braddell exit are set close together, creating a choke point that has long been a bane of CTE users, who say it slows down traffic drastically.
The other new flyover will offer city-bound motorists headed for the exit to Changi and Serangoon an elevated, uninterrupted drive. This should free a bottleneck that greets other city-bound drivers entering the highway at Braddell.
The flyovers are part of a major CTE-widening project, which includes widening works between Ang Mo Kio avenues 1 and 3. This started in June and will be completed some time next year at a cost of about $17 million. Tenders for other stretches will be called soon.
When it is all done by 2011, 7.5km of the CTE from Bukit Timah to Yio Chu Kang will have four lanes in each direction, up from mostly three today.
LTA chief executive Yam Ah Mee said the expansion is expected to reduce travel time by 15 per cent in either direction.
Motorists now take about seven minutes to get from Yio Chu Kang to the Bukit Timah exit during off-peak hours, and double the time during rush hours.
Mr Yam declined to estimate the cost of the remaining widening works, saying that doing so may influence bids from contractors. But going by the cost of widening the 1.5km stretch between Ang Mo Kio avenues 1 and 3, it could top $70 million. Works are expected to start in February and involve tracts of state land.
Punggol resident Sam Chong, 46, was cheered by the news of the flyovers.
The chief executive of a private telecoms-linked company said: 'The problem has always been the exits to Braddell and the PIE. Cars filtering cause the slowdown.'
The LTA confirmed that CTE traffic is heaviest between the PIE and Braddell exit and entry points.
The widening works will have one downside for some Potong Pasir residents, though: It will bring the highway closer to flats just before St Andrew's Village. At the closest point, the road will be only 12m away - just over two car lengths - from around the 15 to 16m now.
Mr Yam said the LTA will plant thick foliage along the stretch to cut down on noise and dust. For high-rises, plants are a better and more aesthetic alternative than sound barriers, which are common in Japan, Australia and European countries.
The LTA said it had considered other ways of increasing the CTE's capacity, including building a second tier along the highway, or making it a 'seven- or eight-lane' highway, but these options were too expensive and required land acquisitions.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on Oct 10, 2008.
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