http://www.kpeunderground.sg

Phase 1 , Kallang–Paya Lebar Expressway To Open On 26 October 2007

Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Raymond Lim, announces the opening date of Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway during a visit to the Intelligent Transport Systems Centre

1. Phase 1 of the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) will be opened to traffic on 26 October 2007. The entire expressway will be in full operation by the end of 2008.

Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE)

2. The KPE is a 12-km expressway that stretches from the East Coast Parkway (ECP) to the Tampines Expressway (TPE). With nine kilometres of the expressway constructed as an underground tunnel, the KPE will be the longest underground expressway in South-East Asia upon its completion in 2008.

3. The KPE starts from the ECP in the south, crosses under the Geylang River, Nicoll Highway, Mountbatten Road, Geylang Road, Sims Avenue and the Pan Island Expressway (PIE). The route continues from Aljunied Road and Upper Paya Lebar/ Paya Lebar Road before following Airport Road past the Paya Lebar Air Base to connect to the Tampines Expressway (TPE).

Opening of KPE Phase 1

4. The KPE Phase 1, which is the section from the ECP to the PIE, will be opened to the public on 26 October 2007. A total of four entry slips and four exit slips will be opened under KPE Phase 1.

5. There are two entry slips for motorists to enter the KPE (Northbound) heading towards the PIE (Eastbound), exiting near Kallang Way:

(i) Entry slip from the ECP (AYE) direction
(ii) Entry slip from the ECP (Changi) direction

6. Motorists coming from the PIE from both direction can enter the KPE (Southbound) by using the entry point near Kallang, to head towards the ECP (AYE bound), or the ECP (Changi bound), both exiting near Fort Road.

Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) Gantries

7. ERP is a key traffic management tool to manage demand for road use in our dense city-state and serves to relieve congestion on the busiest roads and expressways. ERP rates are adjusted regularly, according to the traffic conditions on the roads and expressways, so as to maintain traffic speeds at the optimal range of 45-65 km/h for expressways and 20-30 km/h for arterial roads.

Southbound KPE Tunnel (Phase 1): ERP Gantry to Close City-bound Cordon

8. When KPE (Phase 1) opens in October 2007, it will provide motorists with a new connection to the ECP. To maintain optimal traffic conditions along the ECP, a new gantry will be placed at the south-bound KPE exit into west-bound ECP. ERP charges will be levied on this KPE exit to ECP (westbound i.e. towards the city) for the use of the ECP during the morning peak hours from 7.30am to 9.30am, in line with the prevailing ERP charges imposed on the ECP (towards city). The ERP charges at this KPE exit to ECP (towards city) will be identical to the prevailing ERP rates at the ECP (towards city).

KPE Phase 1: Installation of ERP Gantries

9. Two additional ERP gantries will be installed on the KPE in advance of the Phase 1 opening. This would allow LTA to activate the ERP gantries without delay, to deal with any congestion that builds up inside the tunnel, as congestion may pose safety concerns. The two gantries will be located outside the north-bound KPE exit to PIE and on the south-bound KPE exit to eastbound ECP.

10. These gantries will only be activated when speeds have fallen below 45kph. LTA will inform the public before these two gantries come into operation.

11. In summary, when the KPE Phase 1 opens in October, there will be one ERP gantry which will be in operation i.e. the KPE exit to ECP (westbound i.e. towards the city). Another two gantries will also be put up, but ERP charging will not be activated on these gantries until traffic conditions warrant it.

Please refer to Annex A for locations of KPE gantry.

thats a pretty cool website for an expressway

Btw, I am curious. Will KPE shorten the driving time to Changi Airport? Will it be faster to reach by using PIE-KPE-ECP?

The website is so cool.....:cool:

I supposed it'll alleviate traffic jams on CTE when it's fully open....:yes:

Btw, I am curious. Will KPE shorten the driving time to Changi Airport? Will it be faster to reach by using PIE-KPE-ECP?

if u driving from downtown..i think using the usual ECP will be faster....

another thing is the ERP gantries will only be activated if speed falls below 45kph...dangerous oooo coz my parents dun have the ERP thingy in the car.

Cool webbie.

It is actually a longer drive from S'goon Gdns, S'goon Central, Serangoon North, western parts of Hougang, western Sengkang (Jln Kayu/Fernvale) to KPE than CTE.

why do your parents not have the erp thing? i thought it's compulsory????

the mandate to only activate erp if vehicle speed falls below 45km/h is not very wise to make public - i imagine people die die also will drive fast.

its a pretty good way to make money... avoid erp, but fall into the speed camera trap.

why do your parents not have the erp thing? i thought it's compulsory????

the mandate to only activate erp if vehicle speed falls below 45km/h is not very wise to make public - i imagine people .
Kurakura's parents are probably from Malaysia. They need not have an ERP device to pay tolls as they can pay at the checkpoints when driving out of Singapore.

The ERP gates would only be switched on when LTA road surveys show general speeds during peak hours are less than 45 km/h.

Kurakura's parents are probably from Malaysia. They need not have an ERP device to pay tolls as they can pay at the checkpoints when driving out of Singapore.

The ERP gates would only be switched on when LTA road surveys show general speeds during peak hours are less than 45 km/h.

yea..from msia.... we didnt have the card reader that is supposed to be attached on the dashboard.

therefore..early morning canot go to the expressways or cbd.

yea..from msia.... we didnt have the card reader that is supposed to be attached on the dashboard.

therefore..early morning canot go to the expressways or cbd.
From what I heard from a Malaysian colleague, your parents should be able to drive through the ERP gantries as often as they want when in Singapore. They would only be charged a flat ERP daily fee when they exit Singapore .... cannot remember how much but should be about $10 per day.

From what I heard from a Malaysian colleague, your parents should be able to drive through the ERP gantries as often as they want when in Singapore. They would only be charged a flat ERP daily fee when they exit Singapore .... cannot remember how much but should be about $10 per day.

oh yea thanks. i just found out about that too. damn ex leh.....

A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO ACHIEVING A SUSTAINABLE LAND TRANSPORT SYSTEM IN SINGAPORE

I am pleased that you can join me today, to take a look at the progress made on the Kallang - Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE).

Continual Investment in Road Building

2. The KPE and the many other roads and expressways the Government has invested in over the years are part of our continuing efforts to build a first class road network for Singaporeans. The KPE will complement the CTE and the BKE in providing rapid north-south travel, and will add to the extensive network of expressways linking every part of Singapore.

3. We have also continually upgraded and expanded our roads. For example, we recently upgraded Telok Blangah Road and Pasir Panjang Road into a semi-expressway, added an additional lane to the northbound CTE and the ECP, and upgraded the AYE and Keppel Road Interchange.

4. In the last 10 years, we spent some $3.4 billion on roads, and we will continue to invest more in the future. Recently, I announced that we will be building a new expressway, the Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE), the tenth in Singapore, costing $2.5 billion. The 5-km long MCE will provide an additional high speed access to the Marina Bay area.

5. While we will continue to build new roads and expressways, the constraints that we face in land-scarce Singapore will become more acute. Already, some 12% of our land is taken up by roads, comparable to that used for housing and industry. Our limited land resources have to be shared with other critical uses such as building homes for our people, industries to drive our economy and schools for our children.

6. With all these competing demands, future major roads will likely have to be built underground like the KPE. But underground roads cost a lot more to build and maintain. For example, the KPE and the SLE are both 12 km long. But the KPE, which is largely underground, costs $1.7 billion or over 10 times more than the SLE to build. The operating and maintenance cost of the KPE is 30 times more than that of a surface road. With scarcity of land and road building costs going up, LTA expects road growth to trend down from 1% a year in the last 15 years to about half that rate over the next 10 to 15 years.

Continual Investment in Public Transport Infrastructure

7. Thus, we must ensure that our limited road space is well utilised. To do this, we need a holistic package of measures that include not just a good road network but also integrated land use and transport planning, good public transport system, and measures to limit the number and use of cars on our roads.

8. Developing a good public transport system is a top priority as it serves the vast majority of Singaporeans. That is why the Government has, and will continue to invest heavily in our public transport infrastructure. The Government has already spent over $13 billion to build up our existing rail network of 138 km. Another $20 billion has been committed to expand the density and coverage of the MRT by more than 50% to 215 km. Commuters can look forward to the completion of the Boon Lay Extension in 2009, the Circle Line from 2010, and come 2013, start taking the Downtown Line to Marina Bay.

9. Each new rail line will add to the connectivity and attractiveness of our MRT network, shortening journey times and bringing commuting convenience to Singaporeans. For instance, a young couple living in Bukit Panjang visiting their parents in Bishan can take the DTL and transfer to the Circle Line at Botanic Gardens station. The trip would take 40 minutes, a saving of 15 minutes compared to the current available option of taking 2 buses, with a transfer at Dunearn Road. Similarly, this same couple, if they work in the new Marina Bay Financial Centre, will be able to take the DTL and get to work in 45 minutes, almost as fast as by car during the morning rush hour, maybe even faster than driving should there be traffic jams.

10. We are also investing in bus service improvements as our rail network can never reach all parts of Singapore and many commuters will still depend on buses for all or part of their journey. One key initiative is to give buses greater priority on the roads; to reduce their travel time and improve their reliability. We have extended the bus lane operating hours and expanded the full-day bus lane scheme to more roads in April this year.

11. The Public Transport Council has also tightened the Quality of Service (QoS) standards to increase the frequency of buses during the peak hours. In two years’ time, bus operators must have at least 80% of their bus services operating at 10 minute headways, down from the current 15 minutes. This should translate to shorter waiting times and less crowded buses for commuters during the peak hours.

12. To provide commuters with more choices, there will be more premium bus services that provide more comfortable journeys and faster travelling times. Since the PTC revised the premium bus service scheme earlier this year, some 20 such services have been launched. Residents in Ang Mo Kio, Clementi, Bedok, Simei, Jurong, Pasir Ris and Toa Payoh now have more choices to take the MRT, trunk buses or premium buses to the CBD in the morning.

13. We also aim to ensure a more seamless transfer between the rail and bus modes, and help bus passengers plan their journeys and manage their time better. LTA has started a trial to provide commuters with real-time bus arrival information, and installing Key Bus Services Maps at bus stops around Orchard Road.

part of Speech by Mr Raymond Lim, Minister for Transport. the second-half is all about ERP.

^^ easy to say. esp the bus waiting times thingy.

KPE discovery tour focuses on engineering challenges, tunnel safety

27 Sep 07

SINGAPORE: When fully completed next year, the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) will be the longest underground expressway in Southeast Asia, with nine kilometres constructed as an underground tunnel.

The Land Transport Authority invited some 2,500 people who live around the KPE to the two-day Discovery Tour where visitors learn about the engineering challenges and take part in interactive games for a better understanding of tunnel safety.

Frankie Tan, who lives on the KPE route, was initially inconvenienced by the construction, but "we managed to get over it and took it all in our stride. It is more satisfying now to see this engineering marvel being completed."

The first phase, which connects the East Coast Parkway (ECP) to the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE), will be opened on October 26.

With the opening just weeks away, the authorities have been doing some fine-tuning.

Chuah Han Leong, deputy director of the KPE project, said: "Emergency planning is something we refine as we go along. We have been doing a lot of tests.

"This is what we call part of the integrated testing and commissioning process. And we have actually developed many scenarios of possible accidents within the tunnel."

A series of safety events and tests, including a fire scenario, are planned for next Saturday.


By Wong Mun Wai, Channel NewsAsia

There's a safety leaflet in Sunday Times yesterday on emergenccy procedures of KPE.

It's quite colourful and it's printed with good quality material.:)

Kallang-Payar Lebar Expressway to open on Friday
By Wong Mun Wai. Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 24 October 2007 1938 hrs

SINGAPORE: The Kallang-Payar Lebar Expressway (KPE) is set to open this Friday after six years of construction.

In the building of this underground road project, the Geylang River had to be dammed, diverted and then re-diverted onto its original path.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) also used multiple waterproofing elements in the part of the tunnel running under the river.

Part of the construction work has been captured by the LTA in the form of a documentary, which will be aired on Channel NewsAsia on Thursday night.

The documentary includes, among others, the challenges faced by the engineers and the solutions they used. It describes the biggest challenge as diverting the Geylang River while the construction was taking place.

Even with cutting-edge technology, engineers had to manage the risks of digging below Geylang River.

"Anything below ground is a risk," said Marcus Karakashian, LTA's director of KPE. "It does not matter if you are one metre below ground. We are going 25 metres below ground."

Another problem was the ground that the tunnel was being built in.

"One of the key challenges is the soil condition in the east," said Tammie Loke, the deputy group director of LTA's corporate communications. "As one project manager puts it, the soil consistency is like toothpaste."

The documentary also highlights the tunnel's security features: emergency doors that open to allow ambulances and fire engines through to the other side. In the case of a fire, giant fans can be activated to swiftly extract smoke.

The LTA is running a safety campaign so motorists will know what to do when travelling through the three-kilometre tunnel.

The campaign includes safety habits like switching on the headlights and not stopping their vehicles in the tunnel.

This whole week on MediaCorp Radio, songs from a KPE Safety music CD will be aired, emphasising safe driving in the tunnel with lyrics like "don't you try and overtake" and "look at the signs".

The entire expressway will be fully operational by the end of 2008.

Catch the first building phase of Southeast Asia's longest underground expressway in the documentary on Channel NewsAsia on Thursday at 9.32pm.

- CNA/yb

^^ thats today!! hope i can come across a tv.

Want to see how KPE looks like in the tunnel? ;)

Follow me from PIE to KPE to ECP!
=> http://hyacinthus.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/experiencing-kpe-night/

Want to see how KPE looks like in the tunnel? ;)

Follow me from PIE to KPE to ECP!
=> http://hyacinthus.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/experiencing-kpe-night/

cool!

1)surprisingly, there is minimal traffic using the KPE.

2)the van just overtook u from the left.:bash:

cool!

1)surprisingly, there is minimal traffic using the KPE.

2)the van just overtook u from the left.:bash:

On the day it opened, I travelled along KPE from ECP to PIE and then turned around and went from PIE to ECP just for the fun of it.

Traffic using the KPE is indeed very minimal on the first day or maybe even the first week.

Overall, I think the KPE is quite narrow. Only 3 lanes at the widest (compared to 4 lanes on the wider CTE tunnel) and 1 lane at some entry roads to the KPE.

As for the van overtaking Hya on the left, that van is probably going to get caught by several speed cameras to be installed along KPE. The speed limit is currently set at a ridiculously low 70km/h. Anyone driving over 73km/h might just get their picture taken by the speed cameras and end up with a speeding ticket. :lol:

As for the van overtaking Hya on the left, that van is probably going to get caught by several speed cameras to be installed along KPE. The speed limit is currently set at a ridiculously low 70km/h. Anyone driving over 73km/h might just get their picture taken by the speed cameras and end up with a speeding ticket. :lol:

:lol: how true!



2)the van just overtook u from the left.:bash:

we r already travelling at 80km/h, the vehicle that overtook us probably travelled at 90km/h... :banana:

:lol: how true!



we r already travelling at 80km/h, the vehicle that overtook us probably travelled at 90km/h... :banana:

80km/h? LTA is rather strict about speeding in the KPE so they said they would have several speed cameras to catch people going over the speed limit of 70km/h currently. Hopefully, they have not started using them yet.

some photos that i took last week ;)

pardon for the blurry image (Entry From ECP)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v702/encon/DSC_0165s.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v702/encon/DSC_0166s.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v702/encon/DSC_0167s.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v702/encon/DSC_0168s.jpg

rather narrow i think and short too (will be waiting till nxt year :D)

About 600 motorists caught speeding every day since new KPE opened
By Julia Ng, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 02 November 2007 2143 hrs

About 600 motorists caught speeding every day since new KPE opened

SINGAPORE: About 600 motorists are caught speeding on the newly-opened Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) each day.

Cameras installed in the tunnel have captured 3,378 vehicles travelling above the speed limit of 70 kilometres per hour since it was opened a week ago.

The traffic police said this is cause for alarm because on average 10,000 speeding summons are issued in a month.

Many people do not know there are now digital speed cameras operating 24 hours a day in the tunnel. And many motorists are not fully aware that the speed limit in the tunnel is 70 kilometres per hour, not 90 kilometres per hour as in some expressways.

"In many countries, speeds in tunnels are always lower than (those) in open expressways. And in Mont Blanc where a serious accident happened before, the speed limit is now 50km/h, much lower than the 70km/h that we have in the KPE tunnel," said Land Transport Authority (LTA) ’s transportation chief engineer Chin Kian Keong.

To guide motorists, the LTA has put up signages and road markings.

"The figures are high because motorists are in fact speeding. They are not travelling within the speed limit of 70 kilometres an hour. They may also not be aware that there are cameras operating 24/7… Our aim at the end of the day is to bring the number to zero," said Traffic Police’s Deputy Superintendent Alvin Lee Fook Wing.

Those caught speeding in the KPE in its first week will receive advisory letters or summons over the next few days.

An average of 21,000 vehicles travelled in the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway tunnel on weekdays. And on the first weekend since it opened, the number jumped to 25,000.

The Land Transport Authority said traffic along the three-kilometre tunnel, which forms part of the 12-kilometre expressway, has been smooth-flowing. - CNA/ac

Heng arh.... I drove slowly at 70km/h cos I knew there would be several speed cameras along KPE!

Hope Hya didn't get a summon.

Heng arh.... I drove slowly at 70km/h cos I knew there would be several speed cameras along KPE!

Hope Hya didn't get a summon.

Reports have proven that it you exceed certain speed limit the camera will not be fast enough to capture the image of your car.

Top Gear did it once and it worked. I think it is in the region of 200+kmh.

Reports have proven that it you exceed certain speed limit the camera will not be fast enough to capture the image of your car.

Top Gear did it once and it worked. I think it is in the region of 200+kmh.
Quote from ST: "This is partly because the tunnels have highly accurate digital laser cameras - the first of their kind used here. They never run out of film like the old models used on other expressways. And they work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, unlike policemen carrying laser cameras."

Any guinea pigs to try 200km/h? I read in the ST one chap drove over 140km/h and 45 fellas drove above 110km/h. Some of these 45 drivers might get 3 months jail, fines, demerit points or lose their licence.

Also heard that there are 15 hidden guard posts along that short stretch of KPE for traffic wardens to hide and aim their speed cams at us.

Quote from ST: "This is partly because the tunnels have highly accurate digital laser cameras - the first of their kind used here. They never run out of film like the old models used on other expressways. And they work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, unlike policemen carrying laser cameras."

Any guinea pigs to try 200km/h? I read in the ST one chap drove over 140km/h and 45 fellas drove above 110km/h. Some of these 45 drivers might get 3 months jail, fines, demerit points or lose their licence.

Also heard that there are 15 hidden guard posts along that short stretch of KPE for traffic wardens to hide and aim their speed cams at us.


how come KPE is so preoccupied and paranoid?

chilllah. speeding a bit wont harm. can increase capacity of the tunnel as well:lol:

thanks for all your concerns. *laugh*

I'm not the driver lah ;)

how come KPE is so preoccupied and paranoid?

chilllah. speeding a bit wont harm. can increase capacity of the tunnel as well:lol:

Speeding can kill. Speeding in Tunnels - very very dangerous. Once collision, spark off explosion and fire flash sweeping the tunnel.

Here is recent accident in tunnel in California.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,301620,00.html

Don't overestimate with advanced technologies in KPE - these won't save lives the moment fire spreads....

how come KPE is so preoccupied and paranoid?

chilllah. speeding a bit wont harm. can increase capacity of the tunnel as well:lol:

If the garment issue fines to all 3,400 drivers caught speeding in KPE every week, they would recover the entire construction costs very soon. :lol:

haha. "since you use it, pay for it" (for those caught speeding) lol

KPE to Open by September 2008

1. It is a pleasure to join you this morning at the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) Operations Control Centre for an update on KPE Phase 2. The KPE project team has worked very hard and made good progress. I am pleased to announce that the full KPE will be opened on 20 September 2008. With this new high speed access, northeast residents can expect travel time to the city to be cut by 25%. The KPE will also help relieve congestion on the Central Expressway (CTE).

KPE to Open by September 2008

1. It is a pleasure to join you this morning at the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) Operations Control Centre for an update on KPE Phase 2. The KPE project team has worked very hard and made good progress. I am pleased to announce that the full KPE will be opened on 20 September 2008. With this new high speed access, northeast residents can expect travel time to the city to be cut by 25%. The KPE will also help relieve congestion on the Central Expressway (CTE).

HIGH SPEED??? Yeah rite... :nuts: i hope they change the speed limit once they fully open the KPE.

i dun think i will be using KPE for the next 10 yrs.no car :(

can take cab wat, kurakura. :)

can take cab wat, kurakura. :)

yea..but i cant afford the fares....oh well... things might be better by next year:banana:

By Christopher Tan, StraitsTimes.com - 21st July 2009

JUST 10 months after it was fully opened to traffic, Singapore's newest expressway, the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE), is filling up.

Checks with the Land Transport Authority showed that the average daily two-way volume is now around 63,500 vehicles - 30 per cent more than the 48,900 recorded last September, when it opened.

City-bound traffic is now 3,000 vehicles per hour during the morning peak, versus 2,600 per hour last September. Likewise, north-bound traffic in the evening peak is now 2,700 vehicles per hour, compared with 2,300 per hour recorded back when the 12km largely underground highway opened. The jump in traffic has come about as more motorists are now familiar with the expressway, said an LTA spokesman.

The sizeable increase in traffic volume has raised concern that electronic road pricing will be imposed soon.

In the morning, long tailbacks leading to Nicoll Highway and the city are common.

There are more than a dozen ERP gantries along the KPE. Currently, only one is in operation: at the Fort Road exit towards the city. But the LTA indicated that KPE users need not fret yet, as the road can accommodate twice its current peak volume. 'While there is an increase in traffic volumes using the KPE, traffic speeds continue to be optimum,' its spokesman said.