LTA to start road improvement works in Changi South in 2024 after 4-year delay

SINGAPORE –

Road improvement works in Changi South

that are meant to support an anticipated increase in travel demand from future developments, such as Changi Airport Terminal 5, are expected to kick off in 2024 after a four-year delay.

In response to queries, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said plans to enhance about 9km of road infrastructure in the area had to be pushed back due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and construction work will be completed progressively from 2030, instead of by end-2026 as previously said.

The works, which were announced in 2019 and originally supposed to start at the end of 2020, include the construction of new roads that will connect T5 to Tanah Merah Coast Road and East Coast Parkway (ECP).

Tanah Merah Coast Road will be widened and realigned, while sections of the Pan-Island Expressway, ECP and Xilin Avenue will be widened as well.

Changi Flyover and Tanah Merah Flyover will also be reconfigured.

In addition, 3.5km of new cycling paths will be built in Xilin Avenue and Tanah Merah Coast Road to connect Tampines and the East Coast area to T5.

The new paths will complement existing on-road cycling lanes and park connectors in the area, making it safer and more comfortable for pedestrians and cyclists to get around, LTA said previously.

The authority called tenders for the Changi South road enhancement works on May 31.

In its reply to The Straits Times on Monday, LTA said temporary traffic diversions will be carried out on the ECP during the construction period.

The planned road works in Changi South are part of a larger undertaking by LTA to widen existing roads, build new roads, erect a new viaduct and lay cycling paths north and south of Changi Airport.

Called the Changi Northern Corridor and Changi Southern Corridor, these transport projects are expected to be a boon to industrial and business districts in the area and help alleviate existing congestion in key arterial roads.

The Changi Northern Corridor includes

a new 2.6km-long vehicular viaduct in Loyang Avenue;

3km of new cycling paths; and the widening of Loyang Avenue, Telok Paku Road, Nicoll Drive and Changi Coast Road. Some of the works have already begun.

A stretch of Loyang Avenue between Pasir Ris Drive 3 and Loyang Way is

closed from February 2023 to the second quarter of 2029

to facilitate construction.

The northern transport corridor in Changi is expected to be completed by 2030, in time for the expected opening of four Cross Island Line (CRL) stations in the vicinity.

The first phase of the CRL, slated to open in 2030, comprises 12 stations from Aviation Park in Changi to Bright Hill in Sin Ming, covering a distance of about 29km.

For T5, construction tenders are expected to be called in 2024, with ground-breaking slated for 2025.

When it is operational around the mid-2030s, Changi Airport’s fifth and biggest terminal will be able to serve 50 million passengers a year, more than Terminals 1 and 3 put together.

T1 can handle 24 million passengers a year, while T3 can handle 22 million.

The new terminal will be part of the wider Changi East project, which spans 1,080ha and will house hotels, offices and other mixed-use developments.