SINGAPORE - Cyclists can soon enjoy a 10km on-road cycling lane on the extended Tanah Merah Coast Road in Changi East.

A dedicated 2m wide bicycle lane, which can cater to two cyclists riding abreast, will be marked out in both directions on the road, which will be opened to the public on April 22 at 7pm.

While on-road cycling lanes have been launched in Sentosa in December last year, this is the first time they are making a debut on public roads on the mainland.

To facilitate works for a third runway at the airport, the existing 6km Changi Coast Road - which is popular with cyclists - will be closed, when the extended Tanah Merah Coast Road is opened.

In 2014, works started to widen Tanah Merah Coast Road from a dual two-lane road to a three-lane road, and to extend it to hug the eastern coastline and link to Aviation Park Road.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Monday (March 27) in a press release that it has been able to set aside, for now, sufficient space on the road for the dedicated cycling lane.

The authority added that it does not have plans to build more on-road cycling lanes elsewhere.

For cyclists who prefer not to cycle on the road, there will still be a park connector network along the southbound side of Tanah Merah Coast Road, LTA said.

The on-road cycling lane will have features such as raised profile chevron markings to demarcate it from the vehicular carriageway, and to alert motorists when they veer into the cycling lane.

Red transverse marking at transition zones before and after road junctions will also alert cyclists to look out for turning vehicles and remind motorists to give way to them.

The cycling lane will divert behind bus stops to minimise interaction between buses and cyclists.