The government will acquire close to 40 lots and more than 30 part lots of land to facilitate the construction of a stretch of the North South Expressway (NSE) between Admiralty Road West and Toa Payoh Rise.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said this follows government approval for the alignment of that stretch of the new expressway.
Planning, engineering and alignment studies for the southern segment of the NSE are still ongoing.
The LTA said the lots to be acquired, which include Marymount Terrace and Marymount Convent, will be comprehensively redeveloped.
The Orange Valley Nursing Home and Good Shepherd Chapel, as well as the Missionaries of Charity Gift of Love Home and Rose Villa would have to go, as a result.
Marymount Convent School and Marymount Kindergarten said they would remain at its current premises.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said the sites at Marymount Terrace and Marymount Convent would be considered for residential development after the completion of the new expressway.
The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) gazetted the lands affected by the acquisition on Wednesday.
Landowners who are directly affected will receive the acquisition notices on Wednesday and they will be given ample time to move out.
Some residents said they had been told to get their property evaluated before entering into talks with the government to work out compensation packages.
They added they had two years to move to a new place.
The new expressway will run parallel to the Central Expressway (CTE) to serve the north-south corridor.
The CTE is currently the only expressway serving the north-south corridor and it experiences heavy traffic generated by motorists from the northern and central part of Singapore during peak hours.
One driver said: “It will actually minimise congestion on certain expressways, due to the fact that there is another new route for (drivers) to use”.
Another said: “This highway will alleviate all the population leaving from Punggol and Yishun, and Woodlands, so it really helps a lot”
A third person said: “It would not help. The more highway freeway you build, the more cars you will entitle people”.
LTA said even with the completion of the CTE widening project by the end of this year, traffic demand along this corridor is expected to continue to grow.
The authority said the NSE will not only alleviate the current load experienced on the CTE, but also help ease traffic on major arterial roads, such as Thomson Road and Marymount Road.
NSE will consist of a combination of viaduct and road tunnels to provide a new high speed road link from residential estates such as Woodlands, Sembawang, Yishun, Ang Mo Kio, Bishan and Toa Payoh to the city centre.
It will also connect to existing expressways, such as the Seletar Expressway and major arterial roads, such as Marymount Road.
Work on the new expressway is expected to start in 2013 and completed by 2020.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 19 Jan 2011