Central Expressway, Singapore

Central Expressway
Lebuhraya Tengah
中央高速公路
மத்திய விரைவுச்சாலை
Central Expressway is labelled in single blue line
Route information
Length 15.8 km (9.8 mi)
Existed 1989 – present
History First section opened 1989-06-17,
last section opened 1991-09-21
Major junctions
South end Bukit Merah (AYE)
  SLE, TPE, ORRS (Braddell Road), PIE, NSC, AYE
North end Yio Chu Kang (SLE, TPE)
Location
Regions: Seletar, Ang Mo Kio, Serangoon, Kallang, Bishan, Toa Payoh, Central Area, Bukit Merah, Novena
Highway system
Expressways of Singapore


The Central Expressway (Abbreviation: CTE) in Singapore is the major highway connecting the city centre of Singapore with the northern residential parts of the island, including Toa Payoh, Bishan and Ang Mo Kio and further onwards to the Seletar Expressway and the Tampines Expressway.

As from 29 December 2013, SLE and CTE are one of the two pairs of expressways in Singapore which are linked together, the other being the KPE and MCE.

History

The first stage of the expressway began as two separate parts: one from Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 to PIE, which was opened on 31 August 1983, followed by an extension to Thomson Road on 18 May 1985 and to Seletar to Bukit Timah Road (next to Cavenagh Road), which was opened on 17 June 1989 and the second from Chin Swee Road in Chinatown to the Ayer Rajah Expressway in Radin Mas. The second stage of the expressway also involved the construction of the two tunnels, the north tunnel being 700 m (766 yards) long and the south tunnel being 1.7 km (1.06 miles) long, that travel underneath previously built-up areas, including the Singapore River, Fort Canning Park and Orchard Road. This stretch was opened on 21 September 1991. Construction required the acquisition of several roads and diversion on 28 September 1986 -

  • The stretch of Cavenagh Road between Keng Lee Road and Bukit Timah Road (one-way street)
  • The stretch of Clemenceau Avenue North between Cairnhill Road and Orchard Road
  • Slight diversions of Clemenceau Avenue and Chin Swee Road to allow CTE tunnels to pass.

The CTE tunnels were the only underground roads in Singapore until the Fort Canning Tunnel was opened on 16 January 2007 and the only expressway with tunnels until the second stretch of the Kallang–Paya Lebar Expressway were opened on 26 October 2007.

As it is the only expressway to connect the city and the northern residential areas, it is more prone to congestion than the other expressways in Singapore. In the latest attempt to relieve congestion, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced on 27 May 2005 that with effect from 1 August 2005, Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) operation hours for the CTE will be extended into the evening, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. This is the first time that evening ERP hours were introduced for a Singapore road.

A section of the CTE passes under the Singapore River, causing significant water seepage problems. Despite the LTA plugging nearly 2000 leaks and spending "millions", on 9 May 2007, chunks of concrete fell from the ceiling of the south-bound tunnel. There were no injuries.[1]

Central Expressway, near the Cavenagh Road exit.

Road interchanges

No. Northbound exit to road (destinations) Interchange Type No. Southbound exit to road (destinations)
Start of expressway Radin Mas I/C Directional T End of expressway (AYE)
No Exit Bukit Merah I/C SPUI 1A Jalan Bukit Merah
1B Chin Swee Road, Tiong Bahru Road Outram I/C SPUI 1B Outram Road
Start of Chin Swee Tunnel
2 Clemenceau Avenue and Merchant Road 2 Havelock Road
End of Chin Swee Tunnel
No Exit 4 Buyong Road to Orchard Road
Start of Kampong Java Tunnel
No Exit 5 Cairnhill Circle
End of Kampong Java Tunnel
No Exit Bukit Timah I/C SPUI 6 Bukit Timah Road, Cavenagh Road
7A Moulmein Road Moulmein I/C Parclo No Exit
7B Jalan Bahagia No Exit
No Exit Moulmein I/C Parclo 7C Moulmein Road
No Exit Moulemin I/C Parclo 7D Jalan Kebun Limau
8A PIE (Tuas) Whampoa I/C Stacked Turbine 8A PIE (Tuas)
8B PIE (Changi Airport)
Upper Serangoon Road		 Whampoa I/C Stacked Turbine 8B PIE (Changi Airport)
Upper Serangoon Road
10 Braddell Road Braddell I/C 3-Level SPUI 10 Braddell Road
11 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 Ang Mo Kio South I/C SPUI 11 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1
12A Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 Ang Mo Kio Central I/C Diamond No Exit
12B Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 Ang Mo Kio North I/C Diamond No Exit
No Exit Ang Mo Kio North I/C Diamond 14 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 and Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5
15 Yio Chu Kang Road Yio Chu Kang I/C SPUI No Exit
End of expressway (SLE) Seletar I/C Directional T
Start of expressway (SLE)

References

  1. ↑ Archived 9 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine.

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