The Marina Coastal Expressway ( Abbreviation: MCE) is the tenth of Singapore's

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

of expressways. Construction for the MCE began in 2008 and was completed at the end of 2013. The expressway was officially opened on 28 December that year by Senior Minister of State

Josephine Teo Josephine Teo Li Min ( née Yong; zh, s=杨莉明, t=楊莉明, poj=Iôⁿ Lī-bêng, p=Yáng Lìmíng; born 1968) is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of the Cy ...

in the presence of Emeritus Senior Minister

Goh Chok Tong Goh Chok Tong (; born 20 May 1941) is a Singaporean former politician who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1990 and 2004, and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party between 1992 and 2004. He was the Member of Parliament (M ...

, and was opened for vehicular traffic the next day.

Route

The 5-kilometre (3.1-mile) MCE connects with the southern end of the KPE and its junction with the ECP to the eastern end of AYE. This links the eastern and western parts of Singapore to the New Downtown, currently being developed in the Marina Bay area. The MCE, with five

lane In road transport, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads (highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each ...

s in each direction, handles the large number of commuters to be drawn to the

office An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific du ...

s, homes and recreational attractions there. It opens access to the

Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore The Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore (also known as the International Cruise Terminal and abbreviated as MBCCS) is a cruise terminal in Singapore, located at Marina South. The construction of the S$500 million terminal began in October 2009 and ...

Marina South Marina South is a planning area located within the Central Area of the Central Region of Singapore. It is largely home to Gardens by the Bay as well as the Marina Barrage. The name has also been used to refer to the larger peninsula the plannin ...

and the existing

Marina South Pier Marina South Pier is a pier that is located in Marina South, Singapore. It is used as a terminal for tourists and day-trippers who are boarding small boats and ferries heading for the Southern Islands. There are regular ferries from the pier to K ...

List of exits

{, class="wikitable" ! scope="col" , Exit ! scope="col" , Destinations ! scope="col" , Notes , - style="background: #dff9f9" , 1A , Keppel Road, Ayer Rajah Expressway , Expressway continues as Ayer Rajah Expressway , - style="background: #ffdddd" , 1B , Shenton Way, Maxwell Road , Westbound exit and eastbound entrance only , - , 2 , Central Boulevard, Marina Coastal Drive, Marina Gardens Drive, Rochor Road , Signed as Exit 3 westbound , - style="background: #dff9f9" , 5 , Fort Road,

East Coast Parkway The East Coast Parkway (Abbreviation: ECP) is an expressway that runs along the southeastern coast of Singapore. The expressway is approximately in length, and connects Singapore Changi Airport in the east to the Benjamin Sheares Bridge, in ...

(

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 ...

Kallang–Paya Lebar Expressway The Kallang–Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) is the third newest of Singapore's network of expressways. The southern ( Kallang) section of the expressway opened first, on 26 October 2007, with the remaining (Paya Lebar) section opened on 20 Septemb ...

, Expressway continues as Kallang–Paya Lebar Expressway

History

Plans to extend the KPE to join the AYE began on 9 March 2006 to relieve congestion of the East Coast Parkway, and would be called Marina Coastal Expressway. Feasibility studies were conducted for the new expressway, and then Transport Minister Raymond Lim later announced on 27 July 2007 that approval had been given for the construction of a new 5 km long Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) at a cost of $2.5 billion. The expressway, which includes Singapore's first undersea tunnel, links the

and Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway to

and Ayer Rajah Expressway and opened to traffic on 29 December 2013. The expressway comprises a

tunnel 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 ...

, while the rest are at grade or depressed, with a view of the

Singapore Strait The Singapore Strait is a , strait between the Strait of Malacca in the west and the South China Sea in the east. Singapore is on the north of the channel, and the Indonesian Riau Islands are on the south. The two countries share a maritime ...

. The tunnel includes a stretch that travels under the

seabed The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as 'seabeds'. The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of ...

, away from the

Marina Barrage Marina Barrage is a dam in southern Singapore built at the confluence of five rivers, across the Marina Channel between Marina East and Marina South. First conceptualised in 1987 by then prime minister Lee Kuan Yew to help achieve greater sel ...

. This had posed particular

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

challenges in the tunnel construction as large amounts of water were let out from the barrage from time to time. At its deepest point, the expressway lies about under the seabed. The long MCE is Singapore's most expensive expressway. On 28 April 2009, the Land Transport Authority revealed that it has awarded about S$4.1 billion worth of contracts, much more than the initial estimate of $2.5 billion. The construction of the MCE also required undersea dredging. More than of land was

reclaimed Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...

to build the MCE. In contrast, the KPE, which is and has portions running under canals and rivers, cost only $1.74 billion. After the MCE was opened, the segment of the ECP between Central Boulevard and Benjamin Sheares Bridge was downgraded to become Sheares Avenue. The segment of the ECP between the AYE and Central Boulevard was permanently demolished. The first few days of operations was plagued by heavy traffic congestion due to drivers' unfamiliarity with the expressway as well as connections with other roads and expressways. There was reportedly heavier than usual traffic, compared to using the old route via ECP, on 29 December 2013, the first day the MCE opened. The situation was exacerbated on the next day with the Monday morning peak hour traffic. However, the majority of drivers are aware of the road changes. On 28 September 2014, with the road changes in

area, the Prince Edward Road exit was removed and was replaced by Straits Boulevard exit with the ERP gantry being relocated from Prince Edward Road to Straits Boulevard.

References

External links

{{coord missing, Singapore Expressways in Singapore Road tunnels in Singapore Kallang Downtown Core (Singapore) Marina East Marina South Straits View Articles containing video clips 2013 establishments in Singapore