SINGAPORE – From Sept 8, motorists who use the cross junction intersecting Thomson Road, Moulmein Road and Newton Road will be greeted with two T-junctions, instead of the current single multi-way junction.
This new traffic configuration is to pave the way for the next phase of works on the North-South Corridor (NSC), and will stay in place until construction of the NSC is completed from 2027 onwards, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Facebook on Sept 2.
The authority added that several stages of traffic diversions are needed to construct the NSC tunnel under Thomson Road, given Novena’s dense development.
Some of the other traffic changes include turning Goldhill Plaza road into a one-way road where vehicles can enter only from Thomson Road. At present, it is a two-way road where vehicles can enter and exit from both Thomson Road and Khiang Guan Avenue.
Another new configuration is the removal of a left-turning slip road from Newton Road into Thomson Road. Vehicles will have to stop and wait for the traffic light at the new T-junction.
With the new traffic arrangement, for instance, vehicles going from the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) towards Moulmein Road need to keep left at the first T-junction in front of Novena Square before turning left into Moulmein Road via the slip road near the second junction in front of Goldhill Centre.
There will be no change for motorists travelling along Thomson Road towards the city or the PIE, although they have to cross the two new T-junctions.
LTA said signs will be installed along the affected roads to guide motorists, and reminded them to account for extra travel time in their commutes, especially during peak hours.
This is the third time the traffic junctions in the area have been reconfigured to allow NSC works, and comes nearly two years after LTA last adjusted traffic flows at this junction in October 2022. Some parts of the roads near Novena Square were blocked off for construction.
This is the latest in a series of road changes being carried out to facilitate works for the NSC, following the conversion of a traffic cross junction in Ang Mo Kio into a signalised roundabout in August.
Once it is completed from 2027 onwards, the 21.5km NSC is slated to cut travel time by up to 30 minutes from Woodlands, Sembawang, Yishun and Ang Mo Kio to the city, as well as ease heavy traffic on the Central Expressway.
Stretching from Admiralty to Rochor, the corridor includes an 8.8km expressway viaduct in the north and 12.3km of underground road tunnels in the south.
Motorists who spoke to The Straits Times felt that the roads in the Novena area would be equally, if not more, congested with the traffic reconfiguration.
Taxi driver James Quak, 48, who drives past the junction at least twice daily on average, said this area near Novena Square is often clogged, and the road has “ever-changing twists and turns” that are tricky to navigate.
On the new traffic arrangements, the taxi driver of 12 years said he is bracing himself for delays, since motorists may have to stop more often, given that there are two T-junctions.
Novena resident and landlord Teddy Liu, 59, said some motorists who are unfamiliar with the area may get confused by the new traffic arrangements.
Adding that the new T-junctions are unlikely to ease the heavy traffic along Thomson Road, he said there could be a “domino effect”, where lines of vehicles form at each junction.
Mr Liu also said many public buses ply the area and already slow traffic down, and this may worsen with the new T-junctions.
It now takes him about five minutes to pass the traffic junction when he makes a turn from Newton Road into Thomson Road.
“Walking is faster than driving,” Mr Liu said of the present traffic situation at the junction.
Correction note: An earlier version of this story wrongly stated that motorists turning from Newton Road into Thomson Road do not have to stop at a signalised traffic crossing now. We are sorry for the error.
