Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Farrer Road back to normal by end-2010

TUNNELLING work for the Circle Line may have been completed yesterday, but motorists will have to put up with road diversions along Farrer Road until the end of next year.

When normal traffic is fully restored, the dual carriageway three-lane road will also have an extra lane added each way, said Land Transport Authority (LTA) deputy chief executive Lim Bok Ngam yesterday.

For the last few years, motorists have had to navigate the twists and turns of the road while the underground train station was being built.

Traffic also slowed down to a crawl during rush hour.

The LTA said that it will take some time for the road to be reinstated.

This is to allow for the building of new drains, the removal of tunnelling equipment and the demolition of temporary underground retaining walls.

Farrer Road resident Annie Low, 42, an accountant, battles traffic jams daily on her 30-minute drive to work at Dhoby Ghaut.

'I'm really glad the station will be opened soon. Once that happens, I will probably sell my car and take the train to work,' said Madam Low.

Farrer Road will be among the last few stretches of road affected by Circle Line construction to be reinstated, together with the junction around Holland Village.

Road realignments for the rest of the orbital line are all complete, except for one stretch of Paya Lebar Road, said an LTA spokesman.

This stretch, from Geylang Road to Jalan Afifi, will be widened and realigned by the end of this year, she added.

Source: Straits Times, 18 Aug 2009

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