AYER RAJAH EXPRESSWAY (Progress)

Encik Abbas Abu Amin asked the Minister for National Development if he will inform the House of the progress of the Ayer Rajah Expressway and details of areas affected for road widening.

Mr Teh Cheang Wan: Mr Speaker, Sir, the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE), when completed, would run from Shenton Way in the east to Jurong Town Hall Road in the west, over a distance of 13 km. It forms the westward extension of the East Coast Parkway.

The Expressway is being built in two phases. Phase I of the project between Shenton Way and Alexandra Road is now under construction. This stretch of the Expressway will be completed by early 1986.

The second phase of the Expressway is now being designed. This phase of the project will involve the widening and upgrading of Ayer Rajah Road and Upper Ayer Rajah Road to expressway standards, with flyovers at major road intersections. Construction work is scheduled for commencement in late 1985 and completion by mid-1987.

Seventeen lots of private land, 11 lots of State land, and some HDB land were affected by the first phase of the AYE. For the second phase of the Expressway, the PWD is unable to furnish details of the land that would be affected, since the design has not yet been finalized. However, a large proportion of the land off Ayer Rajah Road and Upper Ayer Rajah Road are State land and statutory board land which are occupied by Government institutions, such as the Kent Ridge Hospital, Science Park and National University of Singapore. Land required for this phase of the Expressway has already been set aside when these projects were built.