Central Expressway, Singapore

Central Expressway
Route information
Length:	15.8 km (9.8 mi)
Existed:	1989 – present
History:	First section opened 1989-06-17, last section opened 1991-09-21
Major junctions
South end:	Bukit Merah (AYE)
	SLE, TPE, ORRS (Braddell Road), PIE, AYE
North end:	Yio Chu Kang (SLE, TPE)
Location
Regions:	Seletar, Ang Mo Kio, Serangoon, Bishan, Toa Payoh, Central Area, Bukit Merah
Highway system
Expressways of Singapore

The Central Expressway (Abbreviation: CTE; Chinese: 中央高速公路; pinyin: Zhōngyāng Gāosù Gōnglù; Tamil: மத்திய விரைவுச்சாலை; Malay: Lebuhraya Tengah) in Singapore is the major highway connecting the city centre of Singapore with the northern residential parts of the island, including Toa Payoh, Bishan and Ang Mo Kio and further onwards to the Seletar Expressway and the Tampines Expressway.

History

The first stage of the expressway begun as two separate parts: one from Seletar to Bukit Timah Road (next to Cavenagh Road), which was opened on 17 June 1989 and the second from Chin Swee Road in Chinatown to the Ayer Rajah Expressway in Radin Mas. The second stage of the expressway also involved the construction of the two tunnels, the north tunnel being 0.7 km long and the south tunnel being 1.7 km long, that travel underneath previously built-up areas, including the Singapore River, Fort Canning Park and Orchard Road. This stretch was opened on 21 September 1991. The CTE tunnels were the only underground roads in Singapore until the Fort Canning Tunnel was opened on 16 January 2007 and the only expressway with tunnels until the second stretch of the Kallang–Paya Lebar Expressway were opened on 26 October 2007.

As it is the only expressway to connect the city and the northern residential areas, it is more prone to congestion than the other expressways in Singapore. In the latest attempt to relieve congestion, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced on 27 May 2005 that with effect from 1 August 2005, Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) operation hours for the CTE will be extended into the evening, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. This is the first time that evening ERP hours were introduced for a Singapore road.

A section of the CTE passes under the Singapore River, causing significant water seepage problems. Despite the LTA plugging nearly 2000 leaks and spending "millions", on 9 May 2007, chunks of concrete fell from the ceiling of the south-bound tunnel. There were no injuries.

Central Expressway, near the Cavenagh Road exit.

Road interchanges

No.	Northbound exit to road (destinations)	Interchange	Type	No.	Southbound exit to road (destinations)
End of expressway		Radin Mas Flyover	Directional T	Start of expressway (AYE)
1A	Jalan Bukit Merah	Bukit Merah Flyover	SPUI
1B	Chin Swee Road, Tiong Bahru Road	Outram Flyover	SPUI
2	Clemenceau Avenue, Merchant Road and Havelock Road	Chin Swee Tunnel		2	Clemenceau Avenue, Merchant Road and Havelock Road
	No Exit			4	Buyong Road to Orchard Road
	No Exit			5	Cairnhill Circle
	No Exit	Kampong Java Tunnel	SPUI	6	Cavenagh Road
7A	Moulmein Road	Moulmein Flyover	Parclo		No Exit
7B	Jalan Bahagia				No Exit
	No Exit	Moulmein Flyover	Parclo	7C	Moulmein Road
	No Exit	Moulemin Flyover	Parclo	7D	Jalan Kebun Limau
8A	PIE (Tuas)	Whampoa Flyover	Stacked Turbine	8A	PIE (Tuas)
8B	PIE (Changi Airport) Upper Serangoon Road	Whampoa Flyover	Stacked Turbine	8B	PIE (Changi Airport) Upper Serangoon Road
10	Braddell Road	Braddell Flyover	3-Level SPUI	10	Braddell Road
11	Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1	Ang Mo Kio South Flyover	SPUI		No Exit
12A	Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3	Ang Mo Kio Central Flyover	Diamond		No Exit
12B	Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5	Ang Mo Kio North Flyover	Diamond		No Exit
	No Exit	Ang Mo Kio North Flyover	Diamond	14	Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 and Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5
15	Yio Chu Kang Road	Yio Chu Kang Flyover	SPUI		No Exit
Start of expressway (SLE)		Seletar Flyover	Directional T
				End of expressway (SLE)

External links

• Traffic cameras monitoring the CTE
• Infopedia article on Central Expressway