Channel NewsAsia 4 Feb 08;
SINGAPORE: Roads leading to Sentosa and the area around Harbourfront will be upgraded this year.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said this is to prepare for an expected increase in traffic when the integrated resort at Sentosa – Resorts World at Sentosa – is completed in 2010.
When fully upgraded in two years' time, the roads can accommodate 30 percent more traffic.
According to LTA, during peak period, the junction of Sentosa Gateway sees about 6,000 passenger car unit (pcu) per hour. So this is expected to increase to between 8,000 and 9,000 pcu per hour in future.
LTA said the roads affected include the stretch of Telok Blangah Road and Kampong Bahru Road where a single lane will be added in both directions.
Extra lanes will also be added for parts of Sentosa Gateway. For example, the road leading to Sentosa will have two lanes to facilitate vehicles turning left from Telok Blangah Road.
To further ease traffic flow, an existing central up-ramp which links Telok Blangah Road to the city-bound West Coast Highway, will be converted to a down-ramp.
A new up-ramp will be built to link Telok Blangah Road to the city-bound West Coast Highway viaduct.
Once the ramps are completed, it is expected to divert about 20 percent of traffic from this area, saving motorists at least 10 minutes of travelling time.
Paul Fok, Group Director of Land Transport Authority, said: "If we don't do anything to the traffic in the area, you'll probably need to wait at the junction for the lights to turn from red to green three times or even more before you can cross the junctions. With the improvements, we'd expect you to clear the junctions with one or two cycles."
LTA said tender for improvement works will be called soon and the project is expected to start in June.
The authority is also trying out a Parking Guidance System which is an electronic system that advises motorists which parking lots are available, even before they approach the Harbourfront-Sentosa area.
LTA added that this is to further ease traffic congestion caused by drivers who clog up the areas when they cannot find a parking spot.
Signs will be put up at strategic roads to give motorists ample time to decide where to park before they reach the area.- CNA/so
LTA to upgrade Sentosa, Harbourfront roads
Vincent Wee, Business Times 5 Feb 08;
THE road system in the Sentosa-Harbourfront area will be upgraded to cope with an expected increase in traffic when Resorts World at Sentosa and other developments in the area are completed in 2010, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said yesterday.
'With the opening of the integrated resort, we can expect an increase in visitor and vehicular traffic to Sentosa and these infrastructural improvements will provide a positive travel experience for both visitors to Sentosa as well as residents staying in the vicinity,' said LTA chief executive Yam Ah Mee.
The upgrading works will affect an almost two-kilometre stretch in the vicinity. The works will include the widening of Sentosa Gateway and stretches of Telok Blangah Road and Kampong Bahru Road by a single lane in both directions, relevant ramp modifications to divert more traffic onto the West Coast Highway viaduct and junction widening at Harbourfront Walk and Henderson Road.
This will enable west-bound traffic towards Henderson Road to use the West Coast Highway and bypass Telok Blangah Road and the four traffic light junctions along it, thus saving motorists at least four to five minutes.
According to LTA, the bulk of the traffic along that stretch is heading for destinations within the area such as Vivocity, Sentosa and the Caribbean condominium.
But it hopes to divert about 20 per cent of the traffic onto the viaduct. Current traffic during the evening peak hours is about 2,500 passenger car units (PCUs) per hour.
An average car is equivalent to one PCU, while a lorry makes up about 2.5 PCUs.
Evening peak hour traffic at the critical Sentosa Gateway junction, in particular, is expected to rise from about 6,000 PCUs to about 9,000 PCUs per hour in 2010.
The improvement works are expected to expand traffic capacity of the road network in this area by about 30 per cent, LTA said.
The improvement works will also include a parking guidance system for the area that will advise motorists of parking availability and traffic conditions through signboards at key approach roads.
Tenders will be called soon and the project is expected to start in June with completion scheduled for January 2010, in time for the opening of the integrated resort on Sentosa.
Better traffic access for Sentosa, VivoCity and HarbourFront
Volume likely to rise due to IR, new condos; works to start in June
Maria Almenoar, Straits Times 5 Feb 08;
THE roads leading to Sentosa, VivoCity and HarbourFront will be widened to cater to an anticipated increase in traffic into the area.
With one of Singapore's two integrated resorts opening on Sentosa and new condominiums to be built in the area by 2010, traffic is likely to go up by 30 per cent, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) yesterday.
The Sentosa Gateway junction at Telok Blangah Road now sees about 6,000 cars during the evening peak period.
By 2010, the number will likely be between 8,000 and 9,000.
LTA director of transport planning Lina Lim told reporters yesterday: 'Without the improvement works, I think we would expect very long queues and not being able to clear junctions...'
The road widening works, expected to begin in June and be completed in 11/2 years, will span a 2km stretch from the junction of Keppel and Kampong Bahru roads to the junction of Telok Blangah and Henderson roads.
These are the improvements to be made:
# An extra lane will be added to both sides of Telok Blangah Road, to give each side four lanes;
# Another lane will be kept specially for cars turning left into Sentosa Gateway from west-bound Telok Blangah Road, to make two left-turn lanes;
# Another lane will be added for vehicles turning right into Sentosa Gateway from east-bound Telok Blangah Road, making three lanes there;
# Adding an extra left-turn lane for vehicles going from Sentosa Gateway to Telok Blangah Road, to make three lanes there.
Other changes: Kampong Bahru Road will be widened, and improvements will be made to the Henderson Road/Telok Blangah Road junction and the HarbourFront Walk/Telok Blangah Road junction.
The viaduct which takes cars overhead, in front of VivoCity mall, will have an extra exit built from it.
An exit will be created near Morse Road, just before Henderson Road, which will enable motorists to bypass the HarbourFront area and at least four traffic lights.
Miss Hwang E-wan, a 25-year-old investment banking analyst who lives along Wishart Road off Telok Blangah Road, is glad for this.
To get home, she usually goes through the jam outside VivoCity.
'The alternative is to use the Alexandra Road exit and then make a U-turn back to my house. This will help me escape all that.'
A VivoCity spokesman said that traffic in the area was generally fine on weekdays but can build up on Fridays, weekends and public holidays.
Sentosa said its plans to increase the number of arrival lanes and to move its admission booths inland would complement LTA's plans.
An electronic parking guidance system will also be introduced in the HarbourFront area.
Large signboards will alert motorists where carpark lots are available, which will cut down congestion by reducing the number of cars circling the area looking for lots.
