New Tampines viaduct to open this Sunday

Come this Sunday, the Tampines Viaduct will finally be opened to all motorists, after a three-year-long delay.

It will offer an additional and direct route for motorists travelling from Tampines Expressway (Pan Island Expressway), or TPE (PIE) to PIE bound for Tuas and Upper Changi Road East.

The 1.8km long, one-way viaduct will have a new Exit 2A along TPE (PIE) after the existing Exit 2, which serves to redistribute the traffic heading to PIE (Tuas) and Upper Changi Road East.

According to the Land Transport Authority, or LTA, motorists will have an additional option of bypassing the stretch of TPE (PIE) between Loyang Flyover & Upper Changi Flyover and the existing signalised junction at upper Changi Road North/East. 

Exit 1 to Upper Changi Road East and PIE (Tuas) will still exist, and road users from Tampines, Pasir Ris, and Loyang can continue to use it.

They can also continue to use the existing at-grade road networks to Upper Changi Road North, Upper Changi Road East, PIE (Tuas) and PIE (Changi).

The three-year-long delay of the viaduct's construction was a result of its collapse in 2017, which cost the life of one worker and injured 10 others.

Reminder of works in Pasir Ris and Changi

The LTA is also reminding motorists residing in the vicinity about upcoming road closures that will help to develop the Changi region.

They include the closure of Loyang Avenue (between Pasir Ris Drive 3 and Loyang Way) from Feb 26, 2023, and the closure of Pasir Ris Drive 1 (between Pasir Ris Drive 8 and Pasir Ris Central) from Q3 2023.

As a result, there will also be changes in bus routes during this period (pictured below).

Six bus stops along Loyang Avenue will be removed and the seven bus services plying the affected stretch will be temporarily diverted to use Loyang Way via a new bus-only corridor adjacent to Loyang Avenue, which has been constructed to support the diversion.

The two existing bus stops outside Loyang Valley along Loyang Avenue will also be relocated to the bus-only corridor. 

Details of bus route changes for the upcoming road closure of Pasir Ris Drive 1 (between Pasir Ris Drive 8 and Pasir Ris Central) will be released in the coming months.

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This article was first published in Motorist.