The Land Transport Authority (LTA) of Singapore has awarded the contract to design and construct a stretch of the North-South Corridor (NSC) to Penta-Ocean Construction Co Ltd – Bachy Soletanche Singapore Pte Ltd Joint Venture (Penta-Bachy JV), totalling approximately S$795 million. Works are expected to commence by the first quarter of 2019.

Under the contract, Penta-Bachy JV will design and construct a 1.04 km stretch of tunnel and commuter facilities – including an underground pedestrian network, pedestrian overhead bridges, bus stops, sheltered walkways and cycling paths – between Suffolk Walk and Novena Rise.

The 21.5 km NSC is Singapore’s first integrated transport corridor, featuring continuous bus lanes and at-grade cycling trunk routes, to serve public bus commuters, cyclists and pedestrians, in line with the country’s car-lite vision. The project aims to connect towns in the northern region to the city centre.

The continuous bus lanes along the NSC are expected to reduce bus travelling times from Woodlands, Sembawang, Yishun and Ang Mo Kio areas to the city centre by up to 30 minutes, and also make bus connections between residential towns along the NSC faster. Cyclists can also benefit from the cycling trunk route along the NSC, which will link up Park Connector Networks and the dedicated cycling path networks within HDB towns along the entire corridor to the city centre.

Trunk route to link cycling network along NSC. (Image: LTA)

Dedicated bus lanes in tunnels and on surface roads. (Image: LTA)