Thomson Road is a major

trunk road A trunk road is a major highway with a specific legal classification in some jurisdictions, notably the United Kingdom, Sweden and formerly Ireland. Trunk roads are planned and managed at the national-level, distinguishing them from non-trunk ro ...

linking Singapore's

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

with the northern suburban areas of the country. The road is one of the longest in Singapore, starting from

Novena A novena (from , "nine") is an ancient tradition of devotional praying in Christianity, consisting of private or public prayers repeated for nine successive days or weeks. The nine days between the Feast of the Ascension and Pentecost, when the ...

in the south towards MacRitchie Reservoir, before continuing northwards as Upper Thomson Road towards

Yishun Yishun ( ), formerly known as Nee Soon, is a New towns of Singapore, residential town located in the northeastern corner of the North Region, Singapore, North Region of Singapore, bordering Simpang and Sembawang to the north, Mandai to the we ...

and

Sembawang Sembawang ( ) is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area and New towns of Singapore, residential town located in the North Region, Singapore, North Region of Singapore. Sembawang planning area is bordered by Simpang to the east, Mandai to t ...

Etymology

The road was named after John Turnbull Thomson, who was the Government Surveyor and Chief Engineer of the

Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements () were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under control of the ...

from 1841 to 1853.

History

Thomson Road was constructed to connect the city centre to the airport and naval base at Seletar. The road was originally known as Thomson Road, after which the name was Seletar Road. This resulted in confusion as the naval and air bases, were then both known as Seletar. In response to this, parts of the road were renamed in 1939. It was determined that the road would be called Thomson Road until the Yio Chu Kang junction, whereupon it was to become Upper Thomson Road until the Mandai Road junction. From the Mandai Road junction until the northern coast, it was named as Sembawang Road. The name Seletar Road was dropped. In 1959, the Singapore Rural Board (RB) renamed the stretch of road from the junction of Braddell and Thomson Roads to the junction of Mandai and Sembawang Roads, as Upper Thomson Road. Parts of Thomson Road formed the Thomson Road Grand Prix circuit, the original Singapore Grand Prix from 1961 to 1973.

Geography

The present-day Thomson Road begins at a major road junction with Keng Lee Road, Kampong Java Road, Cavenagh Road and Norfolk Road, and leads northwards through the

residential area. It passes by

Toa Payoh Toa Payoh ( or , , ) is a Planning areas of Singapore, planning area and New towns of Singapore, mature residential town located in the northern part of the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore. Toa Payoh planning area borde ...

before continuing on as Upper Thomson Road at the junction with Braddell Road and Lornie Road. It skims along the western edge of Bishan and

Ang Mo Kio Ang Mo Kio () is a planning area and residential town situated in the Central Region of Singapore. Located approximately north of the Downtown Core district, Ang Mo Kio is the 4th most populated planning area in the North-East region and ra ...

, which also passes through quite a few private residential estates, Thomson Plaza and The Singapore Island Country Club. Towards the end, after Springleaf Estate, the road crosses junction with Mandai Road, where it continues northwards via Sembawang Road. It is also the site of Saint Joseph Institution International,

Ministry of Social and Family Development The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF; ; zh, 社会及家庭发展部; ) is a ministry of the Government of Singapore responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies related to the community infrastructure, programm ...

, Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, and many more. The North–South Corridor and Expressway, which is currently under construction goes through major parts of Thomson Road.

Public transport

Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)

Various train stations ply both Upper Thomson Road and Thomson Road, including Springleaf station and the namesake Upper Thomson station on the Thomson–East Coast Line (TEL), as well as Novena station on the North–South Line (NSL).

Gallery

File:Thomson Road.JPG, Thomson Road towards the

city centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...

File:Thomson Road.jpg, Thomson Road beneath Lornie Viaduct

References

*Peter K G Dunlop (2000) ''Street Names of Singapore'' Who's Who Publishing *

Notes

{{Major roads in Singapore Roads in Singapore Bishan, Singapore Novena, Singapore Toa Payoh