LIM CHU KANG ROAD (Widening and upgrading)

Mr Tang See Chim asked the Minister for National Development what plans his Ministry has to widen and upgrade Lim Chu Kang Road which is being used by heavy traffic as a trunk road linking the Jurong Industrial Estate and the northern part of the island and which is inadequate to accommodate such heavy traffic.

Mr Lee Yock Suan (for the Minister for National Development): Sir, recent traffic counts conducted by the Public Works Department along the most heavily trafficked stretch of Lim Chu Kang Road near the intersection with Chua Chu Kang showed that peak hour volumes are of the order of 560 to 620 vehicles per hour which are within the capacity of the existing road. There is, therefore, no need to widen the road at present.

However, to improve traffic flow, the Public Works Department is signalizing the junction of Lim Chu Kang Road/Chua Chu Kang Road/Jalan Bahar. The signalization works will be completed in about two months' time.

Mr Tang See Chim: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, was the Minister of State for National Development in this Chamber when both the Minister for the Environment and the Minister of State of Defence answered Questions Nos. 3 and 10 respectively? Both Ministers told this House that Neo Tiew Road is heavily used and yet the Minister of State for National Development is now telling the House that the traffic is really not heavy enough.

I also wonder whether the Minister of State is aware of the physical size of the road, i.e. the narrowness of Lim Chu Kang Road. The road is so narrow that two buses cannot pass each other without one having to edge off the road, thereby causing damage to the road, as was pointed out by the Minister of State of Defence.

Mr Lee Yock Suan: Sir, I was here when the two Questions were answered. But, as I recall, it concerns another road. It is not the same road that we are now talking about, which is Lim Chu Kang Road. The capacity of this road is 850 vehicles per hour. I have been told by the PWD that, based on their actual count, the peak level has not been reached.

Mr Tang See Chim: Sir, would the Minister of State accept my invitation to come down and have a look at the road because Lim Chu Kang Road, in fact, connects Neo Tiew Road which connects Woodlands Road. It is because of Woodlands New Town and the Jurong Industrial Estate that Lim Chu Kang Road is now being used as the main trunk road. I am sorry he is not aware of this. Maybe the officials of the Public Works Department were just concerned with the junction of Lim Chu Kang Road and Jalan Bahar which, of course, is a pretty wide road. But is he aware that this road is, in fact, now part of the system which connects Jurong Industrial Estate to Woodlands New Town?

Mr Lee Yock Suan: Sir, I will ask the Public Works Department to look further into this problem.

Mr Tang See Chim: Sir, may I ask the Minister of State whether he is prepared to accept my invitation to accompany me to go and have a look at the road himself?

Mr Lee Yock Suan: The answer is yes.