Marina Coastal Expressway - set to open on Dec 29

[princess_morbucks]

http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking...-set-open-dec-

The Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) - Singapore's first undersea road, costliest expressway and one with the widest tunnels - will open on Dec 29, four years after the $4.3 billion project started.
The 5km expressway, at $860 million per kilometre, has a 420m section that goes under the sea-bed just south of the Marina Barrage. There are five lanes in each direction.
Linking the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway to the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE), it will allow swift east-west travel.
Drivers currently using the East Coast Parkway (ECP) to join up with the AYE can switch to the MCE from Dec 29. The ECP will be downgraded to an arterial road that serves the Marina downtown.





Aerial view of the new expressway, Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE), which runs from the International Cruise terminal towards Keppel PSA. Singapore's first undersea road, costliest expressway and one with the widest tunnels - will open on Dec 29, four years after the $4.3 billion project started. -- ST FILE PHOTO: JAMIE KOH

[princess_morbucks]

https://www.facebook.com/WeKeepYourW...56958311041076

From LTA :

Dear motorists, there’ll be some changes to the roads near the Marina Bay area when the #MCE opens. You may have to make some adjustments to your travelling routes. Here’s a short clip which we’ve put together to help you understand the changes better.

[iwantgizmos]

so much $$$ spent on an expressway...
what we know is ERP will confirm rise again...

[eng81157]

so much $$$ spent on an expressway...
what we know is ERP will confirm rise again...

wrong!! ERP has already gone up!!

[minority]

want to drive not happy to $$ pay? then better take bus or MRT.

[onglai]

let's face it.. erp is here to stay, for many more years to come.

[EBD]

I wonder when the East coast park will be linked up to gardens by the bay and marina barrage for pedestrian.

Nice to be able to jog/cycle without going via Tanjong Rhu.

[princess_morbucks]

http://www.todayonline.com/photos/ga...-open-dec-29-0

[puffer_fish]

From the pictures, it seems that the entire old expressway would be shifted into the new expressway. ?
if true, then what is the entire plot of land currently been occupied by ecp going to be turn into.

Yes, it better to have another cycling route to the garden, been staying in tanjong rhu for close to 10 years, only in recent times, do all residents see increase in cycling activities

Many questions

[proud owner]

http://www.todayonline.com/photos/ga...-open-dec-29-0

nice clip ...


I was hoping to see beautiful sky as I emerge from the tunnel ....


only to be greeted by a ERP gantry ... sigh

[princess_morbucks]

nice clip ...


I was hoping to see beautiful sky as I emerge from the tunnel ....


only to be greeted by a ERP gantry ... sigh

LOL...we have to face reality at the end of the tunnel.

[dtrax]

From the pictures, it seems that the entire old expressway would be shifted into the new expressway. ?
if true, then what is the entire plot of land currently been occupied by ecp going to be turn into.

Yes, it better to have another cycling route to the garden, been staying in tanjong rhu for close to 10 years, only in recent times, do all residents see increase in cycling activities

Many questions

More prime land suddenly fall from the sky.. roads will be constructed/destroyed and in the process creating new prime land in marina bay area.. PAP jin smart.. construction cost to build roads/MCE eventually will be covered next time by new plots of free land by destroying ECP roads

[puffer_fish]

More prime land suddenly fall from the sky.. roads will be constructed/destroyed and in the process creating new prime land in marina bay area.. PAP jin smart.. construction cost to build roads/MCE eventually will be covered next time by new plots of free land by destroying ECP roads

Confirmed, more new prime lands being free up......time to shift focus back to tanjong rhu and hope this will bring up prices to mbfc standards

from the news, existing ecp bridge would be dismantle.

[economist]

This is not what the news said, the news said "The ECP will be downgraded to an arterial road that serves the Marina downtown. "

From the pictures, it seems that the entire old expressway would be shifted into the new expressway. ?
if true, then what is the entire plot of land currently been occupied by ecp going to be turn into.

Yes, it better to have another cycling route to the garden, been staying in tanjong rhu for close to 10 years, only in recent times, do all residents see increase in cycling activities

Many questions

[dtrax]

Gov is damn smart.. the old ECP roads that are destroyed is easily equivalent to a few times the plot of land above tanjong pagar. That means the MCE fee sooner or later will be recovered by selling these land at future prices

[puffer_fish]

Oh is it....ok

but should be good news for everyone , new directions on land usage

see if any new properties development there...exciting time

[Arcachon]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82aSB8iULqM

Work on the 5km-long MCE started four years ago (2013-4=2009)and is Singapore’s most expensive at S$4.3 billon — which works out to S$860 million per kilometre.

Singapore property sure drop 50% and more, government spend too much on infrastructure. quick sell your property........

Now I begin to know why SGD 535,000 in 2006 became SGD 1,550,000 in 2010.

Singapore Billion dollar project.

http://forums.condosingapore.com/showthread.php?t=13324

[princess_morbucks]

MyPaper | Thursday, Nov 14, 2013
SINGAPORE - It's an architectural marvel, with a section where you can drive underneath the seabed and still retain your phone network connection.
Built at a cost of $4.3 billion, the Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) is also Singapore's most expensive expressway to date.
But MCE could well justify that price tag. It will do more than offer motorists a new, smoother connection between the eastern and western parts of the island. It will also link them directly to the heart of the downtown area at Marina South, through new connections with Central Boulevard, Marina Boulevard and Maxwell Road.
On top of that, it will help to free up valuable land for future developments in Marina South, estimated to be 70ha.
The 5km MCE connects the Ayer-Rajah Expressway (AYE) in the west to the East Coast Parkway (ECP) and the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) in the east. As a result, part of the ECP in the city centre will be freed up for development.
This 1km stretch of the existing expressway is located after Central Boulevard (see graphic).
The MCE, Singapore's 10th expressway, will be five lanes in both directions and will open at 9am on Dec 29, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA).
Built at a cost of around $860 million per kilometre, MCE has 3.6km built as a tunnel, including a 420m section below the seabed.
Transport expert Lee Der Horng from the National University of Singapore said that with the removal of the ECP section, a "big chunk" of Marina Bay can be retained for development, as the expressway no longer cuts through the area.
Noting that MCE is built at the fringe of the new downtown area, Dr Lee said: "When you give higher priority to land (use), in terms of the infrastructure and urban development, then you must find a way to relocate the ECP."
MCE may also be safer than the section of the ECP near Marina Bay Sands, which is curvy and can be dangerous for motorists, said Dr Lee.
- See more at: http://ride.asiaone.com/news/general....5LTB4Hud.dpuf

[princess_morbucks]

http://www.razor.tv/video/610263/a-new-ecp

Found a video explaining the part of the ECP (1km) stretch that will be removed once the MCE is operational.

[princess_morbucks]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...medium=twitter

SINGAPORE: The new Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) has been described as arguably "the toughest tunnelling project" the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has ever undertaken.

Senior Minister of State for Transport and Finance Josephine Teo said this at the opening ceremony of the S$4.3 billion expressway on Saturday morning.

The 5-kilometre MCE, which will be Singapore's tenth expressway, will be open to vehicles on Sunday at 9am.

As the first road tunnel to go beneath the sea, Mrs Teo said the 420-metre section that links the MCE between Marina East and Marina South also happens to be just 130 metres from the Marina Barrage.

She said as the barrage discharges large amounts of water during periods of heavy rain, currents in the construction area can be quite strong and not always predictable.

As such, even before constructing the tunnel box on the sea bed, the construction team had to build a temporary undersea wall about 270 metres into the sea, with a width of 100 metres -- bigger than the size of three football fields combined.

Mrs Teo added the other challenge was building most of the tunnel through reclaimed land.

"The LTA engineers described the ground conditions as being similar to "peanut butter"," said Mrs Teo.

More than 4 million cubic metres of soil were removed -- enough to fill 1,700 swimming pools.

The MCE, together with the existing Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE), will make the longest underground expressway in Southeast Asia.

KPE-MCE will have a continuous stretch of more than 12 kilometres.


- CNA/nd

[radha08]

$10 erp coming soon

[princess_morbucks]

LTA ‏@LTAsg 22m Did u know? #MCE is our shortest expressway, but tgt with KPE, it becomes SE Asia's longest continuous underground expressway!


LTA ‏@LTAsg 21m
Building the #MCE was the most challenging project we’ve undertaken. For starters, strong currents kept washing the ground away!


LTA ‏@LTAsg 16m
To top it off, the land that #MCE was built on had texture like peanut butter. No worries, it's safe. We stabilised the soil b4 building it.

[princess_morbucks]

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...3478808&type=1

This morning, Senior Minister of State Mrs Josephine Teo, together with Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, opened Singapore’s tenth expressway – The Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE).

[puffer_fish]

The whole tanjong rhu estate became quieter...very nice

[minority]

The whole tanjong rhu estate became quieter...very nice

i will say tanjong rhu price will have upside.

[princess_morbucks]

From LTA :

Dear motorists, do note, there’ll be road changes once #MCE opens tmr. Here’s a quick guide to help plan your routes.