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

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

's network of

expressways Expressway may refer to: * Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic. *Limited-access road A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limi ...

. The southern ( Kallang) 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 Redevelopme ...

) section opened on 20 September 2008. Connecting East Coast Parkway (ECP) in the south and Tampines Expressway (TPE) in the north-east, the six-lane (2x3) expressway extends for twelve kilometres, with approximately of main cut and cover tunnels 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 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'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was establish ...

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

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 ha ...

(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 Tampines Expressway was opened to traffic, and was temporarily named Tampines Service Road. Tampines Road will therefore 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 board under the Ministry of Transport of the Government of Singapore. History Incorporation of Land Transport Authority Land Transport Authority (LTA) was established on 1 September 1995, f ...

, 27 July 2007 The entire expressway opened to traffic on 20 September 2008.

Route

Paya Lebar Expressway under construction 2, Dec 05

The Kallang section of the expressway starts from eastern end of the

, 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 Geylang River ( ms, Sungai Geylang; Simplified Chinese: 芽茏河) is a canalised river flowing from Geylang to Kallang, in the Central Region of Singapore. With the formation of the Marina Reservoir after the completion of the Marina Barrage ...

, cuts across the Kallang Sports Complex to the west of the National Stadium, comes to an interchange at the Mountbatten Road/ Nicoll Highway/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 (, ms, Sungei Kallang) 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 plannin ...

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 The Circle MRT Line (CCL) is a medium-capacity Mass Rapid Transit line in Singapore operated by SMRT Corporation. It runs in a currently incomplete loop from Dhoby Ghaut station in the city area of Singapore to HarbourFront station in the ...

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, 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 Tampines Expressway. 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 The Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) extends from the western end of the Marina Coastal Expressway in the south of Singapore to Tuas in the west near the Tuas Second Link to Malaysia. Together with the Marina Coastal Expressway and the East Coas ...

via Marina South. The stretch was named

(MCE). The

officially opened on 29 December 2013.

List of exits

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 generally ...

to embark on a

public education State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary educational institution, schools that educate all students without charge. They are ...

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 (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. ...

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 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 agency of governm ...

, 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 (stylised as cna), which is an acronym derived from its previous name, Channel NewsAsia, is a Singaporean multinational news channel owned by the country's national public broadcaster Mediacorp. It broadcasts free-to-air domestically in Si ...

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

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

, 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