The Central Expressway (CTE) in Singapore is the major highway connecting the city centre of Singapore with the northern residential parts of the island, including

Toa Payoh Toa Payoh (, ta, தோ பாயோ) is a planning area and matured residential town located in the northern part of the Central Region of Singapore. Toa Payoh planning area borders Bishan and Serangoon to the north, the Central Water Catc ...

Bishan Bishan most commonly refers to Bishan, Singapore, a residential town in Singapore's Central Region, and its associated places. Bishan may also refer to: Places Singapore * Bishan, Singapore ** Bishan MRT station, a MRT interchange station along t ...

and

Ang Mo Kio Ang Mo Kio is a planning area and residential town situated in the North-East of Singapore. Located approximately north of the Downtown Core district, Ang Mo Kio is the 3rd most populated planning area in the North-East Region and ranks 8th ...

and further onwards to the

Seletar Expressway The Seletar Expressway (Abbreviation: SLE) is a highway in Singapore that traverses the northern end of the island and joins the Central Expressway (CTE) and the Tampines Expressway (TPE) in Seletar to the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) in Kranji ...

and the

Tampines Expressway The Tampines Expressway (TPE) is a highway in the north-eastern fringe of Singapore, joining the Pan Island Expressway (PIE) near Singapore Changi Airport in the east with the Central Expressway (CTE) and Seletar Expressway (SLE) in the north of ...

. As of 29 December 2013, SLE and CTE are one of the two pairs of

expressways in Singapore The expressways of Singapore are special roads that allow motorists to travel quickly from one urban area to another. Construction of the system was authorized when construction of the Pan Island Expressway began in 1962. All of them are dua ...

which are linked together, the other being the KPE and MCE.

Route description

Beginning at a junction with the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) in Bukit Merah, the expressway runs northeast, passing through Outram and parallel to Chin Swee Road. The CTE then runs through two tunnels between Chin Swee Road and Bukit Timah Road, with an at-grade segment between Buyong Road and Cairnhill Circle, before continuing northeast, between Kallang and Novena. The expressway then turns north, intersecting the

Pan Island Expressway The Pan Island Expressway (Abbreviated as: PIE) is the oldest and longest expressway in Singapore. It is also Singapore's longest road. The expressway runs from the East Coast Parkway near Changi Airport in the east to Tuas in the west and ha ...

(PIE) and passing through

, Bishan and

before terminating at an interchange with the

(SLE) and

(TPE), and measures .

History

Construction

Work on the first phase of the CTE, between Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 and Thomson Road, commenced in July 1981. Intended to alleviate heavy traffic along Upper Thomson Road, a segment of the expressway between Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 and Jalan Toa Payoh opened in March 1983, while the segment of expressway between Jalan Toa Payoh and Thomson Road was opened in May 1985, In August 1985, construction commenced on a , S$18 million segment of the expressway in Ang Mo Kio. This segment of expressway was opened to traffic in January 1987, while the section between Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 and Yio Chu Kang Road was constructed between August 1986 and November 1988. The contract for the second phase of the CTE was awarded in December 1987. This phase, which comprised of expressway between

Bukit Timah Road Bukit Timah Road (; ms, Jalan Bukit Timah; ta, புக்கித் திமா சாலை) is a major road in Singapore extending from the city centre to Woodlands Road on the way to Johor Bahru in Malaysia. The road has a length of 25 ...

and Chin Swee Road, included two tunnels, with lengths of and , and involved the acquisition of land along

Orchard Road Orchard Road, often known colloquially as simply Orchard, is a major –long road in the Central Area of Singapore. Known as a famous tourist attraction, it is an upscale shopping area of Singapore, with numerous internationally renowned depa ...

and Clemenceau Avenue worth over S$20 million. Work on the second phase commenced in June 1987, and the tunnels were constructed using the

cut-and-cover A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

method. As the areas along the expressway's route were heavily built-up, precautions were taken to limit disruption to the public during construction, with the exclusive use of hydraulic piling machines and work near residential areas being paused at night. In addition, cofferdams were built in the

Singapore River The Singapore River is a river that flows parallel to Alexandra Road and feeds into the Marina Reservoir in the southern part of Singapore. The immediate upper watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Planning Area, althou ...

to facilitate construction of the expressway tunnels, and to prevent erosion, the river bed directly above the tunnels was covered with rocks. The segment of expressway between Outram Road and the Ayer Rajah Expressway opened in September 1988, but the construction of the tunnels was delayed, which the government attributed to a shortage of workers and "poor soil conditions near Cairnhill Circle". Construction on the CTE's second phase was completed in May 1991, and the opening of the two tunnels, which were named the Kampong Java and Chin Swee Tunnels, in September 1991 marked the completion of the expressway.

Impact and expansion

Traffic volumes along the CTE rose after the expressway was fully opened, and in May 1994, the section of expressway between Ang Mo Kio Avenue One and the PIE was expanded to eight lanes to ease traffic congestion. A traffic monitoring system, the Expressway Monitoring and Advisory System, was introduced on the expressway in March 1998. By the late 1990s, the CTE faced traffic congestion issues, and while a road pricing scheme was introduced to rectify the issue, it was unable to eliminate it. In 2008, a large-scale improvement of the CTE was initiated, and the first phase of the scheme, consisting of the expansion of the expressway between Ang Mo Kio Avenues One and Three, started in June 2008, and cost S$17 million. Subsequently, flyovers were constructed at the junction with the PIE to improve traffic flow, while other sections of the CTE, between Bukit Timah Road and Yio Chu Kang Road, were widened, and the improvement scheme was completed by December 2011. Central Expressway, Dec 05

Road interchanges

{, class="wikitable" , - ! scope="col" , Exit ! scope="col" , Destinations ! scope="col" , Notes , - , , Ayer Rajah Expressway (Jurong) , , - style="background: #ffdddd" , 1 , TPE (PIE - Changi Airport / KPE) , Northbound exit and southbound entrance only , -style="background: #ffdddd" , 1A , Jalan Bukit Merah , Northbound entrance and southbound exit only , - , 1B , Chin Swee Road, Tiong Bahru Road, Outram Road , , - , 2 , Clemenceau Avenue, Merchant Road, Havelock Road , , - style="background: #ffdddd" , 4 ,

, Northbound entrance and southbound exit only , - style="background: #ffdddd" , 5 , Cairnhill Circle , Northbound entrance and southbound exit only , - style="background: #ffdddd" , 6 ,

, Cavenagh Road , Northbound entrance and southbound exit only , - , 7A , Moulmein Road , Signed as Exits 7D (Jalan Kebun Limau, Balestier Road) and 7C (Balestier Road, Moulmien Road) southbound , - style="background: #ffdddd" , 7B , Jalan Bahagia , Northbound exit only , - style="background: #ffdddd" , 8A ,

(PIE) (Tuas) , Northbound entrance and southbound exit only , - , 8B , PIE (

Changi Airport Singapore Changi Airport, commonly known as Changi Airport , is a major civilian international airport that serves Singapore, and is one of the largest transportation hubs in Asia. As one of the world's busiest airports by international passe ...

), Upper Serangoon Road , , - , 10 , Braddell Road , , - , 11 , Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 , , - , 14 , Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 , Signed as Exits 12A (Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3) and 12B (Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5) northbound , - , 15 , Yio Chu Kang Road , , - style="background: #dff9f9" , 16 , Seletar West Link (Yishun Avenue 1),

(SLE) , Northbound terminus; expressway continues as SLE

References

External links

*
Traffic cameras monitoring the CTE

{{coord missing, Singapore Expressways in Singapore Road tunnels in Singapore Ang Mo Kio Bishan, Singapore Bukit Merah Downtown Core (Singapore) Kallang Novena, Singapore Sengkang Serangoon Toa Payoh Tunnels completed in 1989 Transport in North-East Region, Singapore