Road to replace Changi Coast Road to open next year

Karamjit Kaur, Straits Times AsiaOne 26 Sep 16;

A new road to replace Changi Coast Road will open between April and June next year to facilitate works to give the airport a third runway.

The current 6km road will then close, as Changi Airport looks to handle more flights through the development of a new passenger terminal, Terminal 5, and the extra runway, a Land Transport Authority (LTA) spokesman told The Straits Times.

Works to link the third runway to the airport's two existing landing and take-off strips will include building a 40km network of taxiways.

Changi Airport Group has already awarded the first two contracts, worth more than $2.2 billion in total, for the runway works.

The project is expected to be completed by the early 2020s.

Based on air traffic projections, Singapore could handle 700,000 flights a year by the end of the next decade - double its current traffic.

The number does not include flights that fly over Singapore, which also come under the responsibility of air traffic controllers here.

Today, Singapore manages about 300,000 such flights a year.

The new road, which will hug the eastern coastline, will be wider and more scenic.

From a dual two-lane road, there will be three lanes on each side, the LTA spokesman said.

The project also includes the widening of Tanah Merah Coast Road.

Work started in 2014 and, to date, about 75 per cent has been completed, she said.

A new park connector running between Tanah Merah Coast Road and Aviation Park Road will also be constructed along the new Changi Coast Road to replace the existing connector.

Cyclist and retail manager Junaidi Hashim, 34, is looking forward to the new stretch.

"The current road is not ideal any more for cycling because of the many heavy vehicles that move up and down, dropping bits of debris here and there," he said. "I'm definitely looking forward to a more pleasant ride along the coast when the new road opens."

However, the spokesman for LTA added: "Motorists and cyclists who use the road network in the area are reminded to obey all traffic rules and advised to exercise caution, as the area is expected to be heavily used by heavy vehicles for the airport's expansion works."

Works in Changi East are expected to last until the end of the next decade when T5 is slated to open.

By then, Changi Airport will be equipped to handle up to 135 million passengers a year, from 66 million today.