Traffic on the newly-opened Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) might have been fairly smooth on Sunday when it opened to the public, but it was a different story on Monday.

Travel was slow on several segments of the MCE and surrounding roads. Some motorists said they were stuck on the $4.3 billion expressway for nearly an hour, while some commuters were fuming over having to pay higher than usual taxi fares because they were stuck in jams linked to the expressway.

Common reasons cited for the slow traffic included unfamiliarity with how the MCE connects with other roads and expressways, as well as road signs that were not clear enough.

Some motorists noted that even though there were traffic wardens deployed to help direct people, this only slowed traffic more as motorists stopped to ask for directions.

The MCE connects the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) and the East Coast Parkway (ECP) in the east to the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) in the west.

According to the onemotoring website, heavy traffic was reported at 10.43am and at 1.23pm on Monday. There was also at least one accident reported along the expressway, as well as a vehicle breakdown.

Mr Paul Lee, 42, a commercial director at a multinational corporation, said that he was almost an hour late for a lunch meeting at Havelock Road because of a jam on the MCE at about 12pm. He was travelling from the ECP in a car and was stuck for 55 minutes from MCE's Exit 3 to Central Boulevard.

"It's really embarrassing and appalling," said Mr Lee, noting that if he had brought a foreign guest to the civic area along the MCE today, it would not have been a pleasant experience.