Ayer Rajah Expressway

Ayer Rajah Expressway
Ayer Rajah Expressway
Lebuhraya Ayer Rajah (Malay); 亚逸拉惹高速公路 (Chinese); ஆயர் ராஜா விரவுச்சாலை (Tamil)
	Ayer Rajah Expressway is labelled in single yellow line
Route information
	Part of AH143
Length	26.5 km (16.5 mi)
Existed	1983–present
History	First section completed in 1988,; last section completed in 1998
Major junctions
West end	Tuas Checkpoint (Tuas Second Link)
	PIE, ORRS (Portsdown Avenue), CTE, MCE
East end	Keppel (MCE)
Location
Country	Singapore
Regions	Tuas, Clementi, West Coast, Bukit Merah, Keppel
Highway system
	Expressways of Singapore;

The Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) extends from the western end of the Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) in the south of Singapore^[1]^[2]^[3] to Tuas in the west near the Tuas Second Link to Malaysia. Together with the MCE and the East Coast Parkway (ECP), it forms a second east-west link to complement the role played by the Pan Island Expressway (PIE).

As from 29 December 2013, ECP and AYE are no longer linked together after the MCE was opened.^[4]

History

Construction on the expressway commenced in 1983, with the first two phases completed by 1988. This section involved the widening of several existing roads along the way, such as Ayer Rajah Road and Upper Ayer Rajah Road, as well as the construction of what was then the longest road viaduct, the Keppel Viaduct, from where the eastern end of the expressway commences. The road extends from Alexandra Road until Keppel Road. It ends at Teban Flyover along Jurong Town Hall Road.

With the construction beginning from 5 December 1993, the existing Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim from Tuas West Drive to Jurong Town Hall Road was widened and merged into Ayer Rajah Expressway which was opened on 18 November 1997. The expressway was extended to Tuas from Teban Flyover in conjunction with the opening of the Tuas Second Link to Johor on 2 January 1998. This construction, which followed the alignment of Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim, involved the expansion of the existing road to match with the width of the rest of the AYE, construction of "filter" roads on both sides of the expressway (which eventually took the name of Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim), and the building of five flyovers and two underpasses. It meets up with the PIE at the Tuas Flyover.

The eastern terminus of the AYE used to continue onto the western terminus of the East Coast Parkway (ECP). After the MCE was opened on 29 December 2013, the ECP was truncated and the MCE had taken over parts of the route, which connects AYE to the Kallang–Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) and ECP.^[4]

Proposed realignment

During the 2014 Singapore National Day rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke of the possibility of realigning the AYE south near Jurong Lake Gardens to allow for more space to build housing in the area.^[5] Government agencies later further explained that such a move would "integrate the Pandan Reservoir area with Jurong Lake District to form a larger and more cohesive development area".^[6]^[7]

National Development Minister Desmond Lee gave an update on this proposed realignment on 30 June 2024, sharing that "agencies are currently studying various options, including how we can make it easier for residents to move between Teban Gardens and Jurong Lake District", with more information to be made available when ready.^[8]

Gallery

Local bus heading west on Ayer Rajah Rd - 1945
The Clementi section of the Ayer Rajah Expressway
Another view
Keppel Road
A video taken from a car travelling west in the direction of Tuas, and exiting at Exit 9 (Clementi Road)

List of exits

No.	Eastbound exit to road (destinations)	Interchange	Type	No.	Westbound exit to road (destinations)
End of expressway (MCE)		Keppel Viaduct		Start of expressway
2B	Keppel Road	Keppel Viaduct		2A	West Coast Highway & Telok Blangah Road
2C	Central Expressway (CTE)	Radin Mas I/C		No exit
3	Lower Delta Road	Lower Delta I/C	Diamond	3	Lower Delta Road
6	Alexandra Road	Gillman I/C	Diamond	No exit
No exit		Portsdown I/C	Diamond	7A	Queensway and Normanton Park
7B	Queensway, Portsdown Flyover and one-north Avenue		Diamond	No exit
8	North Buona Vista Road and South Buona Vista Road	Buona Vista I/C	Parclo	8	North Buona Vista Road and South Buona Vista Road
9	Clementi Road	University I/C	Parclo B4	9	Clementi Road
10B	Clementi Avenue 2	Clementi I/C	LILO	10A	Clementi Avenue 2
11	Clementi Avenue 6	Pandan I/C	Trumpet	11	Clementi Avenue 6 and West Coast Way
13	Jurong Town Hall Road	Teban I/C	Diamond	13	Jurong Town Hall Road
No exit			LILO	14	Penjuru Road
15B	Yuan Ching Road		LILO	No exit
No exit		Corporation I/C	Diamond	15A	Corporation Road and Jurong Port Road
17	Jalan Boon Lay, Jurong Pier Road, Corporation Road and Jurong Port Road	Jurong Hill I/C	Diamond	17	Jalan Boon Lay and Jurong Pier Road
18	First Lok Yang Road, Pioneer Road North and Pioneer Road	Pioneer I/C	Stacked roundabout	18	Pioneer Road North and Pioneer Road
20	Benoi Road	Benoi I/C	SPUI	20	Benoi Road
22	Tuas Road and Pan-Island Expressway (PIE)	Tuas I/C	Stacked roundabout	22	Tuas Road and Pan-Island Expressway (PIE)
26A	Tuas West Road	Tuas West Underpass		24	Tuas Avenue 8 and Tuas West Road
Start of expressway		Tuas Link I/C		26B	Tuas West Drive
Start of expressway		Tuas Link I/C		End of expressway (Second Link)

References

^ "Speech By Mr Raymond Lim At The Visit To LTA's Intelligent Transport Systems Centre (ITSC) on 27 July 2007". MOT. 27 July 2007. Archived from the original on 4 September 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
^ "Government Approves the Construction of MCE". LTA. 27 July 2007. Archived from the original on 18 August 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
^ "Marina expressway to be ready by year-end". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 8 June 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
^ ^a ^b "Marina Coastal Expressway opens". Today (website). 29 December 2013. Archived from the original on 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
^ "National Day Rally 2014". Prime Minister's Office (Singapore). 17 August 2014. Archived from the original on 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
^ Tan, Christopher (23 August 2014). "The dollars and sense of realigning the Ayer Rajah Expressway". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
^ "First phase of Jurong Lake Gardens to be complete by 2017". Today (website). 18 August 2014. Archived from the original on 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
^ Ng, Keng Gene (30 June 2024). "New park connector along Sungei Pandan to be ready by March 2025". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.

External links

Media related to Ayer Rajah Expressway at Wikimedia Commons

[1] "Speech By Mr Raymond Lim At The Visit To LTA's Intelligent Transport Systems Centre (ITSC) on 27 July 2007". MOT. 27 July 2007. Archived from the original on 4 September 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2020.

[2] "Government Approves the Construction of MCE". LTA. 27 July 2007. Archived from the original on 18 August 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2019.

[3] "Marina expressway to be ready by year-end". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 8 June 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2013.

[today-4] "Marina Coastal Expressway opens". Today (website). 29 December 2013. Archived from the original on 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.

[5] "National Day Rally 2014". Prime Minister's Office (Singapore). 17 August 2014. Archived from the original on 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.

[6] Tan, Christopher (23 August 2014). "The dollars and sense of realigning the Ayer Rajah Expressway". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.

[7] "First phase of Jurong Lake Gardens to be complete by 2017". Today (website). 18 August 2014. Archived from the original on 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.

[8] Ng, Keng Gene (30 June 2024). "New park connector along Sungei Pandan to be ready by March 2025". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]