Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE)

Guide To Know About The  Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE)

The third-oldest expressway in Singapore’s network is the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE). The expressway’s southern (Kallang) segment opened first on October 26, 2007, and its final (Paya Lebar) partly opened on September 20, 2008. The six-lane expressway runs twelve kilometres, connecting the Tampines Expressway (TPE) northeast with the East Coast Parkway (ECP) south. When completed, the main cut and cover tunnels will run for around 8.5 kilometres (5.3 mi) beneath the surface ground. Southeast Asia’s longest sub terranean road tunnel and constructed cost about S$1.8 billion. The Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) was reportedly the sixth-longest underground road project in the world when it built. The dual-carriageway expressway with three lanes overall.

History

The Pan Island Expressway (PIE) and the East Coast Parkway would connected by a 2.8 km Kallang Expressway (KLE), which first proposed in 1981. (ECP). If constructed, it would have become Singapore’s shortest expressway. In 1997, preliminary designs combined the Paya Lebar Expressway (PLE) with the Kallang Lebar Expressway (KLE) contemporary Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE). KPE was under construction from 2001 till in 2008. On June 23, 2007, Tampines Service Road, the temporary designation for the section of the Tampines Expressway that runs from the new Defu Flyover to Tampines Road, opened to traffic.

Construction route

The Pan Island Expressway, the Nicoll Highway, the National Stadium area, Mountbatten Road, Geylang Road, Sims Avenue, and the Geylang River are all traversed by the expressways Kallang portion, which begins at the ECP (PIE). Nearly 2 kilometres of the Paya Lebar highway stretch locates below the Pelton Canal. To get to Airport Road, it then passes over Paya Lebar Road and simultaneously over the new Circle Line. Before reaching Defu Lane 3, the tunnels descend for about 3.5 km beneath Airport Road and the Paya Lebar Air Base. The expressway continues at grade for an additional 3 km before merging with the expressway at Lorong Halus after crossing Tampines Road on the Kallang Bahru Flyover.

Public outreach and traffic management

For the first time for a road project, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) hired an advertising firm in 2006 to launch a public education programme to inform and educate the public on how to use the KPE properly. BBH, a British company, has been contracted to publicise the safety messages required to consumers ready for the KPE. The contract was won for S$2.81 million by BBH, which then hired the British PR agency Grayling. The campaign, which consisted of a website and the ten-song album Sounds of the Underground, got underway in the second quarter of 2007.

Speed cameras

To enforce the 80 km/h speed limit, KPE has installed digital speed cameras in its underground part. These cameras are operational 24/7. (lower if safety advisories display so). It has 3,400 drivers stopped for speeding in the KPE during the first week of phase 1 operation, accounting for 3% of all traffic, alarming the traffic police. The Land Transport Authority sent warning letters to the other speeders, while 45 of those who exceeded the 40 km/h limit received court summonses. The speed cameras are located beneath the main through ducting and are visible in the middle of the tunnel.