Singapore subways and roads get $1.6bn boost
01 MAY 2001
The Singapore government will be spending S$3 billion ($1.64 billion) on subway and road projects to improve the city state's transport system, the Sunday Times reported.
Communications and Information Technology Minister Yeo Cheow Tong has unveiled plans to extend a subway line on the eastern part of the island and build a new, mainly-underground freeway to serve the northeastern areas.
Both projects are expected to be completed by 2006 and help bolster local economic activity.
The subway project - costing S$1.4 billion - will involve building a 5-km extension of the current Marina Line on the eastern part of Singapore, from Stadium Boulevard to Upper Paya Lebar Road, according to the report. It said the project is the second phase of the Circle Line, which will eventually connect subway stations in the central north, central west and southern parts of Singapore.
The first phase is the S$1 billion Marina Line from the Dhoby Ghaut subway interchange to Stadium Boulevard, which is currently under construction.
When the full Circle loop is completed after 2010, commuters traveling from the east to the central north of Singapore can expect to cut travelling time to 15 minutes from the current 30 minutes, the paper said.
The long-term aim is to increase the rail network to about 500 kilometers - about more than five times the current length - it added.
The new freeway - the Kallang/Paya Lebar Expressway - will be built to handle the projected increase in downtown-bound traffic as more people move into the northeastern suburbs of Sengkang and Punggol.
It is also expected to help ease congestion on the Central Expressway - the most heavily-used freeway.
Three-quarters of the 12-kmKallang freeway will be underground, which will make it the longest underground road in Southeast Asia, according to the report.
Citing Yeo, the report said it would have cost one-fifth of the S$1.6 billion to build the entire expressway above ground, but the government decided on the costlier plan "to minimise land acquisition and maximize land use."
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