Progress in Construction of North-South Expressway

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Transport (a) what is the progress in the construction of the North-South Expressway; and (b) whether its completion deadline can be brought forward so that traffic conditions along the Central Expressway can be improved.

LTA has launched tenders for eight out of the 16 major civil contracts for the North-South Corridor. Construction works are expected to commence early next year and complete in 2026. This timeline takes into account traffic conditions, the complexity of the project and the need to ensure construction works are carried out safely.

I have a supplementary question. The North-South Expressway was announced in 2008 and then it was stated that it will commence in 2017, this year. I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State the tender that is called − may I know which stretch of the North-South Expressway is it for and whether it serves the residents in the northern part? Because a lot of my residents in Yishun are finding that the CTE is jammed most of the time, so we are waiting for the North-South Expressway.

The completion date announced at that time was 2023, and now it is 2026. May I know what is causing the delay?

I would like to thank the Member for the questions. Yes, the North-South Expressway project was announced in January 2008 by LTA, but along the way, I think there was a change in plan because we wanted to convert this into a North-South Corridor, rather than just an expressway, that will link the towns in the north which include Sembawang, Woodlands and Yishun to the city. And this will, hopefully, help reduce bus journey time by up to 30 minutes.

As this will be our first integrated transport corridor in Singapore, in addition to just vehicular access, there will also be cycling and pedestrian pathways throughout the surface of the 21.5-kilometre expressway, and the vehicles will ply mainly underground on a highway which will have one of the three lanes in each direction dedicated for bus services.

As to the reason for the delay, I would like to explain to the Member that the North-South Corridor will run through heavily used roads and built-up areas and interface with multiple road and rail infrastructure, making the construction more complex. In fact, an advance engineering study has highlighted a major challenge for construction work at the section of the corridor's tunnel close to MRT lines.

Hence, there are construction and engineering challenges that will require sophisticated construction methods to ensure that existing adjacent infrastructures are not affected as far as possible. Planning and construction will also have to be carefully executed without compromising safety standards.

I would also like to address the Member's question on how we mitigate the congestion along the CTE while waiting for the North-South Expressway (NSE)'s completion. LTA has adopted several measures to mitigate the congestion. There were road-widening projects done in 2009. LTA has completed the widening of the CTE between Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 and Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3, from the dual three lanes to four lanes.

In 2011, LTA also completed widening projects of the CTE between Bukit Timah Road and Yio Chu Kang Road. And, of course, with the deployment of ERP, LTA has implemented nine ERP gantries along CTE and slip roads leading to the CTE.

Last but not least, the Thomson-East Coast Line, as the Member is aware, is undergoing construction and traffic conditions are expected to improve after the opening of the Thomson-East Coast Line in stages from 2019 to 2021, as commuters would be able to take the MRT to Shenton Way and Marina Bay.

I think the Senior Minister of State did not answer my first question. I understood that not the whole North-South Expressway tender has been called. The Senior Minister of State mentioned eight out of the 16. So, which are the eight that have been called? Does it include the portion that will be serving the residents in Yishun?

I would like to thank the Member for the clarification again. I would like to just highlight that the tender calling is done progressively for different parts of the project. I do not at present have the details exactly which are the projects that have been called out of those that I have mentioned but I will be willing to share some of this information with the Member subsequently.