Is MCE the Most Congested Expressway?

Our 10th Expressway was opened to the public on the 29th Dec 2013. It is the most expensive expressway costing more than $4 billion and the most difficult to build touted as a great engineering feat overcoming many difficulties. It’s supposed to be offer a seamless travel from the one end of the island to the other replacing the old proven ECP rendering our iconic Sheares Bridge and Rochor Link Road (coming down from Sheares to Rochor Rd) obsolete. Precious land could then be freed for more buildings thus raking in more billions to our reserves. That will compensate for the heavy MCE investment.

Well, it is supposed to be a great achievement having invested tons of money on MCE. Is that so? I’ve not tried the new MCE yet. But from the internet, it seems that every motorist and non-motorist (taking taxi costing much more) using the MCE is fuming with rage! What is happening to our Singapore brand of efficiency and careful calibration? It’s quite embarrassing really.

Some of the reasons to the spontaneous frustrations are elaborated below. Click on the links below to read. I need not go into the details. Suffice to say that some of the confusing or teething problems could have been avoided. As usual why didn’t they anticipate them? More road signages, better painted directions on the lanes to direct the huge traffic to the correct exits. Common sense will also tell you that from 4 or 5 lanes narrow down to two-lane only exit at Fort Road will definitely result in massive jam when so much traffic trying to get out of the MCE via that slip road. Understandably, netizens are quick to point out that the MCE is “Massive or Most Congested Expressway!” We did not experience such issues on the other nine expressways.

Why not re-open the old highway via Sheares Bridge to ease the current jams along MCE? Let it run parallel to the existing MCE until it is stabilized? Is there any hurry to shut down the old expressway in view of the MCE langgar situation?

Before the MCE fisaco, there was the new DTL official opening when it broke down for a while on its first day of operations. Both relating to public transportation. I wonder what is happening to our world class planners? Do we declare proudly as a world class transport hub when we could not even get these basic things right?

What a way to end the year? It’s going to be an unhappy year for those caught in the massive MCE jam. That, and the backpedal over DNC registry – bowing to pressure from big business is a shame!

Lohcifer commented when I was musing whether as citizens do we have the right to voice our unhappiness at the current fiasco? “Of course. We pay tax. We elect them to office. We pay them top salaries. The project cost over 4 billion. And what happened?”

Let’s hope that those problems could be resolved when the New Year begins. Whatever it is, I would like to wish all my readers a Happy New Year. May your dreams and wishes come through for the new year.

Links :
http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/marina-coastal-expressway/story/motorists-fume-over-slow-traffic-along-newly-opened-ma
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expressways_of_Singapore
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expressways_of_Singapore

The passenger decided to walk instead of sitting inside the taxi caught in the jam