20 Sep 2008
The full stretch of Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) finally opens to traffic.
Like my childhood obsession of getting first day covers, I had the privilege of making my maiden journey on opening day.
Starting from the ECP and negotiating all of the famous speed cameras in the tunnel at a mild 70-75 km/h, the drive was smooth and amazing to see yourself heading out to the north-east in a matter of minutes. When my car emerged from the tunnel, it was the familiar sight of the old Tampines Road that led up to the rubbish dump Lorong Halus. Connecting to TPE, it was a grand total of 20 minutes from the ECP back to home in Pasir Ris... amazing... usually I take 25-30 minutes getting to/from Rochor Road and that is at speeds of 100-120 km/h. One major gripe I have is really driving at 70km/h on a car-less road... it's mental!
The multi-millions spent digging the tunnel did save many precious minutes of my time. But with the 16 ERP gantries along the expressway, God knows how many precious dollars I will have to spend supporting its life. Rumour has it the CTE will be shut in stages to repair tunnel defects. ERP charging will take place when 'congestion' happens. So when all those south-bound traffic get diverted to the KPE... we will definitely Keep Paying ERP lor... not nice :(
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