Opening of first stretch of Lornie Highway pushed to 4th quarter

Motorists will have to bear with the ongoing construction along Lornie Road - one of Singapore's busiest roads - for a few more months.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said yesterday that the south-bound Lornie Highway - better known as Bukit Brown Road - will be completed only in the fourth quarter of the year.

The road, whose completion has already been delayed three times, is meant to cater to increasing traffic demand when the Bukit Brown area is redeveloped into a housing estate from 2030.

The latest delay was reported by Lianhe Zaobao yesterday.

Giving an update, an LTA spokesman said that "the entire south-bound Lornie Highway is expected to open to traffic in fourth quarter 2018".

This section was last slated to be completed by this quarter.

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The LTA did not give a reason for the latest delay, but said the entire road will still be ready by the first quarter of next year.

The road project was announced in 2011 and at first slated to be completed by mid-2016, and then by the end of last year, and then in two phases from the third quarter of this year - the south-bound section first, followed by the north-bound section.

The LTA added that it will continue to communicate with residents who are affected by the project.

The project was mired in controversy when environment and heritage lobbyists protested that its construction involved destroying a swath of nature as well as historical graves dating back more than 150 years.

The authorities said that several other options were considered, but that running the new road through Bukit Brown was the best.

ELEVATED

As a concession, part of the road going through the forested area was to be elevated to preserve the fauna and flora.

When completed, the dual four-lane carriageway will bypass the recently upgraded Lornie Road, which will then be downgraded to a dual two-lane carriageway with cycling and pedestrian facilities.