The up and coming North-South Expressway (NSE) or North-South Corridor will help to ease traffic and is set to reduce travelling time from Northern Singapore to the city area and vice versa by about thirty percent of the current travelling time.
North-South Expressway Now Planned as North-South Corridor
The mega project was originally planned to be a 21.5 kilometre long North-South Expressway to better connect people travelling from the North to the city area and vice versa but there has been a change in plan. It is now revised to be known as the North-South Corridor to better enable walking as well as cycling.
Singapore’s First Integrated Transport Corridor
It will be Singapore’s first unique integrated transport corridor project which features bus lanes, routes which are specially catered for cyclist as well as pedestrians. This is in line with Singapore’s car-lite vision.
Work is now already underway for Singapore’s eleventh and possibly the most unique thus far and is expected to be ready in year 2026.
The dedicated bus lanes will cater for express public bus services and will also help reduce travelling time from the Northern region to the city area and vice versa. Bus journeys will be reduced by around 30 minutes.
Land Acquired to Make Space for the North-South Corridor
This announcement also comes after the news on the acquisition of thirty eight entire lots of land and thirty three partial lots of land.
The land acquisition includes terrace houses, living quarters, nursing home, Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) industrial land, fences, boundary walls and parts of certain condominiums in various areas of Singapore.
The land which was acquired is estimated to be the size of approximately 8 soccer fields which is larger than the land size acquired for the 12 kilometre KPE as well as the underground Circle (Yellow) Line MRT.
The decision comes after extensive and careful planning by the LTA so as to minimise the inconvenience caused to the public.
How Singaporeans will Benefit from the North-South Corridor?
The North-South Expressway, when completed, will help to relieve the heavy traffic on the CTE especially during peak hours which is presently the only route from the north to central Singapore.
The current roads may also not be able to handle future traffic growth when new home owners collect their keys to their new homes located in Woodlands, Sembawang, Yishun and also the city area when the Marina Bay region is further developed.
The North-South Corridor will be linked to the SLE and is likely to help ease heavy traffic on roads such as Thomson where congestions are not uncommon.
With the new introduction of the new corridor, traffic could also be eased by around ten to fifteen percent on the CTE as well as on major roads in Singapore.
With more and more companies moving their offices, warehouses and factories to the North, closer to where the Woodlands regional centre is located, the North-South Corridor is set to help ease traffic jams and reduce overall travelling time for commuters travelling from the North or towards the North of Singapore in the near future.
Residents of Woodlands, Sembawang, Yishun, Ang Mo Kio, Bishan and Toa Payoh will also stand to benefit and will experience shorter travelling time when the new North-South Corridor is completed.