The Kallang–Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) is the third newest of

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

's network of expressways. The southern (

Kallang Kallang ( ) is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area and New towns of Singapore, residential zone located in the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore. Development of the town is centered around the Kallang River, the l ...

) section of the expressway opened first, on 26 October 2007, with the remaining (

Paya Lebar Paya Lebar ( ) is a planning area located in the East Region of Singapore, bordered by Hougang to the west, Sengkang to the northwest, Tampines to the east, Bedok to the south and Pasir Ris to the north. As part of the Singapore Urban Redevelop ...

) section opened on 20 September 2008. Connecting East Coast Parkway (ECP) in the south and

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, Singapore, Central Expressway (CTE) and Seletar Ex ...

(TPE) in the north-east, the six-lane (2x3) expressway extends for twelve kilometres, with approximately of main

cut and cover A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

tunnels A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

running some 10 kilometres underground when fully completed. Built at a cost of approximately S$1.8 billion ( USD$1 billion), it is the longest

subterranean Subterranean(s) or The Subterranean(s) may refer to: * Subterranea (geography), underground structures, both natural and man-made Literature * ''Subterranean'' (novel), a 1998 novel by James Rollins * ''Subterranean Magazine'', an American fa ...

road tunnel in Southeast Asia. The KPE is also believed to be the world's sixth longest underground road project at its time under construction.Christopher Tan, "It's the first-ever ad blitz – for a highway", ''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...

'', 27 November 2006 In all, the dual-carriageway expressway with three lanes in each direction will have eight interchanges, eleven on-ramps, and twelve off-ramps. The south end of the KPE also connects directly to the Marina Coastal Expressway which opened on 29 December 2013. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has awarded a contract for the expansion of the KPE/TPE interchange at the north end of the expressway and construction of a new road connection to Punggol Central, providing a new and more direct link to and from the KPE and TPE, and alleviating the traffic congestion of the TPE between the current KPE ramps and Punggol ramps. The work would involves the design and construction of roads, three new vehicular bridges crossing Sungei Serangoon and Sungei Blukar, a new flyover across TPE and other associated ramps. Construction works commenced in the second quarter of 2015.

History

A 2.8 km-long Kallang Expressway (KLE) was envisioned as early as 1981, serving as a link between 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 ...

(PIE) and East Coast Parkway (ECP). It would have become the shortest expressway in Singapore if it was built. The modern Kallang–Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) was first conceptualised in the preliminary plans of 1997, merging the KLE and the Paya Lebar Expressway (PLE) into a single expressway. Construction on KPE started in the year 2001, and was fully completed in 2008. On 23 June 2007, the northern end of the expressway between Tampines Road from the new Defu Flyover and the

was opened to traffic, and was temporarily named Tampines Service Road. At the same time, Tampines Road was re-routed to no longer connect with the Tampines Expressway at the Tampines Flyover. The Defu Flyover along Tampines Road, along with the traffic signals, were commissioned on the same day from 1000 hours. On 27 July 2007, the LTA announced the opening of the southern ECP-PIE section of the expressway (Phase 1) to traffic on 26 October that year.Phase 1, Kallang – Paya Lebar Expressway To Open On 26 October 2007
",

Land Transport Authority The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of Transport (Singapore), Ministry of Transport of the Government of Singapore. History Incorporation The Land Transport Au ...

, 27 July 2007 The entire expressway opened to traffic on 20 September 2008. An official opening was held on 19 October.

Route

The

section of the expressway starts from eastern end of the Marina Coastal Expressway, where it also interchanges with the East Coast Parkway near the fourteen-kilometre mark of the ECP in a northward direction, goes underground below the Geylang River, cuts across the Kallang Sports Complex to the west of the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football ...

, comes to an interchange at the Mountbatten Road/

Nicoll Highway Nicoll Highway ( , , , ) is a major arterial road in Singapore which links the junctions of Guillemard Road, Sims Way and Mountbatten Road in Kallang to the junctions of Esplanade Drive, Raffles Avenue and Stamford Road in the city. En route, ...

/Guillemard Road junction, crosses the East West MRT line, before ending with an interchange with the

at the thirteen-kilometre mark of the latter. It adds along some slip roads and minor roads. The

section continues from where the Kallang Section leaves off beneath the

Kallang River The Kallang River (, ) is the longest river in Singapore, flowing for 10 kilometers from the Lower Peirce Reservoir (originally named "Kallang River Reservoir") to the Kallang Basin. It originates in the Planning Areas of Singapore, planning ar ...

and Pelton Canal past MacPherson Estate, comes to an interchange with Paya Lebar Road, Upper Paya Lebar Road, MacPherson Road and Airport Road, crosses over the Circle MRT line which was under construction at the same time as the expressway, and continues for almost three and a half kilometres underground beneath Airport Road and the

Paya Lebar Air Base The Paya Lebar Air Base is a military airbase of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) in Singapore located at Airport Road in Paya Lebar, in the eastern region of Singapore. The airbase goes by the motto of ''Strength Through Readin ...

, emerges at ground level near Defu Lane 3, goes on an elevated interchange over Tampines Road. It meets Buangkok East Drive at an interchange before continuing towards the existing Tampines Flyover to meet with

. It replaces one of the fish farms at Tampines Road. On 27 July 2007, the LTA announced an extension of the KPE from East Coast Parkway to the Ayer Rajah Expressway via

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 ...

. The stretch was named Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE). The Marina Coastal Expressway officially opened on 29 December 2013.

List of interchanges and exits

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Hougang Hougang () is a planning area and mature residential town located in the North-East Region of Singapore. It is the largest housing estate in Singapore based on land area, and is home to 247,528 residents as of 2018. Hougang planning area is bo ...

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Start of KPE above-ground section'' , -

Public education and congestion management

In 2006, the

(LTA) engaged an

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generall ...

to embark on a

public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

programme, to inform and educate the public on the proper way to use the KPE – the first time it has done so for a road project. British firm

Bartle Bogle Hegarty Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) is a British global advertising agency. Founded in 1982 by British ad men John Bartle, Nigel Bogle, and John Hegarty, BBH has offices in London, New York City, Singapore, Shanghai, Mumbai, Stockholm and Los Angeles ...

(BBH) has been appointed to publicise safety messages needed to prepare users for the KPE. BBH, which in turn appointed British

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

firm Grayling, clinched the contract for S$2.81 million. Its campaign started in the second quarter of 2007, consisting of a website and an album ''Sounds of the Underground'' of ten songs for the purpose. The LTA has also put up a tender calling for consultants to develop congestion management systems in the KPE. The call has drawn three submissions. It also rolled out the first dedicated team of Traffic Marshals, with the primary role of rapid deployment to any incident within the tunnels. The annual contract was awarded to Certis CISCO, who would deploy six marshals on motorcycles around the clock in the KPE, to be expanded to 28 motorcycles and three cars across all expressways by the end of 2008.

Speed cameras

KPE's underground section is fitted with digital speed cameras that operate 24 hours throughout the day to enforce the 80 km/h speed limit (lower if safety advisories display so). In the first week of phase 1 operation 3,400 motorists were caught speeding in the KPE, consisting of 3% of the total traffic which alarmed the traffic police. 45 of the speed violators which were in excess of 40 km/h received

court summons A summons (also known in England and Wales as a claim form or plaint note, and in the Australian state of New South Wales as a court attendance notice (CAN)) is a legal document issued by a court (a ''judicial summons'') or by an administrative ag ...

, while others received either a traffic summons or a warning letter from the Land Transport Authority.About 600 motorists caught speeding every day since new KPE opened
, Julia Ng,

Channel NewsAsia CNA (an initialism of Channel NewsAsia) is a Singapore-based multinational news channel owned by Mediacorp, the country's state-owned media conglomerate. The network is broadcast in Singapore on free-to-air terrestrial television and Mediacorp ...

, 2 November 2007KPE or racetrack?
Leong Wee Keat,

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

, 3 November 2007Laser cameras catch 3,400 motorists speeding on KPE
, Christopher Tan,

, 3 November 2007 The speed cameras are easily spotted in the middle section of the tunnel and are found under the main via ducting. There have been no instances of speed cameras flashes indicating a violating vehicle exceeding the limit, as the luminosity in the tunnel does not require additional light source.

References

External links

Land Transport Authority webpage on KPE

KPE Information Portal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway Expressways in Singapore Road tunnels in Singapore Kallang Geylang Hougang Marina East Paya Lebar Sengkang Tunnels completed in 2007 Transport infrastructure completed in 2007 Transport in North-East Region, Singapore 2007 establishments in Singapore