SINGAPORE - Sections of two major roads in eastern Singapore will be progressively closed starting on Sunday as works on a major project to develop the Changi area proceed apace.

The two roads, a section of Loyang Avenue and two stretches of Pasir Ris Drive 1, will be closed until 2029 and 2028 respectively.

A total of 16 bus services will be affected as bus stops along the roads are removed or relocated, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Tuesday.

The major road closures are to facilitate the building of Pasir Ris MRT station, Pasir Ris East MRT station and Loyang MRT station on the Cross Island Line (CRL), which should open by 2030.

The closures are also for building a new vehicular viaduct along Loyang Avenue and 3km of new cycling paths in Loyang Avenue, Telok Paku Road, Nicoll Drive, Changi Coast Road and Aviation Park Road.

The first road to close on Sunday is the section of Pasir Ris Drive 1 between Pasir Ris Drive 2 and Drive 4, where works on Pasir Ris East MRT station are ongoing.

This will last until the second quarter of 2028, and cars and buses driving along this road will be diverted to Pasir Ris Street 11 and Street 12.

LTA said it has built a pair of temporary bus stops in Pasir Ris Street 12that affected bus services will use.

Commuters can also continue to use the two pairs of bus stops in Pasir Ris Street 11 to go towards Loyang Avenue and Pasir Ris central areas.

If motorists want to avoid Pasir Ris Drive 1 altogether, they can use the newly widened Pasir Ris Drive 3, which runs parallel to Pasir Ris Drive 1, LTA added.

Next, the section of Loyang Avenue between Pasir Ris Drive 3 and Loyang Way will be closed from the first quarter of 2023 to the second quarter of 2029 for works on Loyang MRT station and a new Loyang Viaduct.

Drivers on this road going towards both Tampines Expressway and Changi Village will be diverted to Pasir Ris Drive 3 and Loyang Way, which have been recently widened, LTA said. Park connectors nearby will also be diverted.

Meanwhile, additional connecting roads have been added between the nearby Pasir Ris Drive 3 and Loyang Lane, Loyang Lane and Loyang Crescent and Loyang Crescent and Loyang Avenue to help spread out the traffic bypassing the affected section.

LTA has also specially constructed a new bus-only corridor in Loyang Way, where seven bus services will be temporarily diverted.

The closure of Loyang Avenue will require LTA to remove six bus stops, it said, while two bus stops will be relocated to the bus-only corridor.

Finally, a relatively small section of Pasir Ris Drive 1 between Pasir Ris Drive 8 and Pasir Ris Central will be closed from the third quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter of 2028 for construction of the Pasir Ris station on the CRL.

Drivers can use Pasir Ris Central or Pasir Ris Drive 3 to bypass the closure. Seven bus services plying this stretch will be diverted, with details of how this will be done to be released by LTA in the coming months.

Mr Sharael Taha, MP for the area, said Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council and LTA have conducted block-to-block visits and virtual town council sessions to inform residents of the changes and asked them about their concerns, which include noise, dust and requests to limit the environmental damage to otherwise healthy trees in the area.

He said where appropriate, the LTA has agreed to use noise enclosures and moveable noise barriers, as well as engine silencers. Healthy trees were also transplanted to Pasir Ris Park, and new trees will be planted in place of those which have been cut down.

And for those who use personal mobility aids, the town council has made sure they can continue to have barrier-free access to places they want to go to despite the road closures, he added.

Drain covers have been installed over drains to help with their access in some spots.

LTA said circulars and signs will be put up to guide motorists, commuters and pedestrians in the lead-up to the road closures.

It will also put in real-time traffic monitoring measures and respond when necessary if there is a build-up.

With the new CRL stations and key industrial districts such as the Aviation Logistics Park and Loyang Industrial Estate being developed, more people are expected to move to the east. The enhancements to public transport, roads and cycling network are to better support this.

Changi Airport’s Terminal 5 is also opening in the mid-2030s.