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[–]bardsmanship🌈 F A B U L O U S 161 points162 points  (5 children)

Pity the poor souls who will have to live with the noise and pollution from having a highway at their doorstep.

[–]Reasonable-Ferret-96 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Most of NSC near housing area are underground, not really much disruption after completion. Only the last section in woodlands town is near HDBs

[–]fatenumberfour 3 points4 points  (3 children)

no noise & pollution when every vehicle is gonna be ev soon /s

[–]bardsmanship🌈 F A B U L O U S 1 point2 points  (2 children)

There will still be noise from the friction between the tyres and the road, and microplastics pollution from tyre wear and road wear.

[–]cronies4life 0 points1 point  (0 children)

there's actually a small trick to minimize that: wet the tires and reduce the speed of vehicles, the only thing is public acceptance

[–]squeeish 366 points367 points  (17 children)

This is coming from someone who lived with the TEL construction for about 10 years. Inconvenience is the wrong word, it's a nightmare.

I live right smack between the Marymount and Thomson stations. Your life is basically living next to a construction site for a decade if it so happens that you live near an area where construction needs an access point, like me.

It takes a toll mentally. Never mind the dust, never mind the inconveniences with changing roads and walking paths. It's the noise. The noise is unreal.

There were nights when the construction could not stop, and the roar of engines, knocking noises and vibrations will keep you up. You close the windows to keep out the dust and noise, but it doesn't really help on the noise front because the noise is coming from deep down below traveling upwards through your block.

Weekends don't offer rest too. They work on Saturdays. You have some respite on Sundays, but light construction often goes on and now you can hear the clanks of supplies/tools, workers shouting, the engines/beeps of vehicles, etc.

[–]piccadilly_ 97 points98 points  (5 children)

I lived through the NEL construction and now have to live through CRL construction, tell me more

[–]max_wen 38 points39 points  (3 children)

NSC and CRL combined 😭

[–]Prestigious-Dance735 6 points7 points  (2 children)

I guess it’s along amk or Serangoon area ? 😱

[–]piccadilly_ 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Think about the suay birds who shifted house to get the construction lottery

[–]ImpressiveStrike4196 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Should be Hougang

[–]banned_salmon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hougang? Now they’re building a new interchange/mall complex on the empty field too it’s absolute hell

[–]lead-th3-wayNorth side JB 39 points40 points  (0 children)

Genuinely feel bad for the residents there, construction noise/work is actually more unbearable than one would think

I used to have construction going on near my block as well and that is damn accurate with the noise, and not forgetting the bright ass lights shining through your windows even at night 🫠

I also used to work near Novena like 8 years ago and well at this point I can't believe it's still ongoing even now 😭

[–]Imokoi 32 points33 points  (1 child)

My area don't even have respite on Sundays for this dumbass NSC. There was once they doing really loud excavation work at 3 am after many other consecutive nights of work. Woke up from my sleep really angry, silently apologized to my neighbours for what I am going to do next, opened my window and shouted at them to shut the fuck up. They heard and stopped....that's how close my room is to the construction site 🙄

[–]squeeish [score hidden]  (0 children)

Yea I remember one instance of someone across the road who actually went down and started shouting at the workers to get them to stop because he couldn't sleep.

[–]HanzoMainKappa 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Yep live beside nsc construction. Pretty much wear anc headphones all the time. Get woken up by noise every morning (just like today lol). Sometimes there are vibrations and pounding you feel through the ground too.

[–]cold-mcspicy 6 points7 points  (0 children)

me too

[–]big-blue-balls 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Same here. We lived in Tanjong Rhu right next to access point and it was a nightmare. Only one road in and out and the noise just didn’t stop. Also delayed by a few years because of Covid…

[–]lawlianneFlat is Justice. 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Gahmen will say dont be selfish and think about your (grand)children generation who will benefit.

[–]Street_Pepper_8735 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Now no one is married and giving birth what grand children? For FTs they mean.

[–]monsooncloudburst 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Would you like 10 moar years?

[–]robbies09 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are right. Literally knocking on Saturday midnight. Complained many times to LtA hotline.

[–]Roknoz [score hidden]  (0 children)

I used to live at Upper Thomson. I still remember the hoarding that seemed permanent there and the amount of businesses it affected.

[–]whatisdeletrazdoing_ 105 points106 points  (6 children)

Every time I have to go through Novena I feel terrible for the people who live/work along the construction. So much noise, ugliness, and it feels so much hotter, too. I'm both very curious/excited to see what this thing really looks and feels like, and skeptical that it'll be anything like the renders and the change in use/behavior/interaction that's been promised.

I personally would have preferred that money spent on MRT expansion. Though I understand this thing doesn't cost nearly as much as an MRT line, it could've gone a long way towards one. And I also don't live off of an area that'll really benefit from the NSC, so I suppose I'm not really the target here.

Regardless it's nice to live in a place that invests a lot in its infrastructure.

[–]ghostcryp 33 points34 points  (2 children)

I avoid Novena totally unless going for medical appt.

[–]whatisdeletrazdoing_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Haha, that’s also the reason I ever go to Novena

[–]hsydurn [score hidden]  (0 children)

Yes, me too! Avoid Novena like the plague. The NS corridor better be like the renders and not just a barren walkway with skinny "trees" and no shade from the sun. It will be super lame if after all those years, that's all they can do.

[–]rototorototo 6 points7 points  (2 children)

T_T am a victim of someone working near that area… driving around there is like driving on an f1 track, swerving left and right and siam-ing drivers who are accidentally enter the wrong lane due to unfamiliarity

[–]whatisdeletrazdoing_ 3 points4 points  (1 child)

And now you have to deal with active aero and superclipping, I feel for you

[–]rototorototo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If only my Hyundai can handle that…

[–]ImpressiveStrike4196 98 points99 points  (4 children)

With all that trouble, it would be better to have the NSC as a railway instead. It’s gonna bring more benefits.

Instead of a 3 lane expressway in each direction, we could have 3 track railway in each direction. One for local trains that stop at every station, one for express MRT, and one for a cross border line to Malaysia.

[–]max_wen 17 points18 points  (0 children)

We could have had a Rochor - Little India connector

[–]pudding567 9 points10 points  (1 child)

A good example could be JR Special Rapid in Kansai, Japan. Seating arrangement like buses and running at 130km/h while skipping so many stops.

[–]thefatkittycat 4 points5 points  (0 children)

cant. LTA spends money like water on infra projects idk why. 392M spent in 2022 to build the loyang viaduct less than 1km long, and 3M per km of bike paths. unfortunately besides CRL and JRL whatever else is being built, public transit improvements are nowhere near on the horizon.

[–]thefatkittycat 12 points13 points  (0 children)

LTA/ MND/ MOT still have the one more lane will fix it disease and don't understand induced demand. What to do

[–]larksauncle 13 points14 points  (1 child)

Why are there viaducts for the northern residential areas? Can’t those be underground too? Imagine living right next to one and facing it. The viaduct is like a highway. Traffic will be non stop 24x7. It’s worse than facing a MRT track.

[–]CaptsuperwombatNon-constituency 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep good question, the viaduct in the woodlands region also seems to be going above the mrt track. That’ll be so tall and imposing

[–]Imperiax731stOwn self check own self ✅ 37 points38 points  (0 children)

It won't matter. When its done, its done. There was no room for discussion in the matter, before or after with the potentially affected.

[–]AsparagusTamer 43 points44 points  (11 children)

What problem was it trying to solve? Seems like it's a disproportionate amount of time and money just to slightly improve traffic from the north to city.

[–]Zkang123 23 points24 points  (4 children)

Cos CTE jam

I actually went to some LTA outreach event once and they said the NSC have been their lifelong dream to deal with the north-south traffic. They've been working out for years on another north-south expressway, and here we are

[–]max_wen 12 points13 points  (2 children)

It's someone's vanity project

[–]risingsuncocSenior Citizen 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Whose?

[–]fatenumberfour 3 points4 points  (0 children)

probably a transport minister's wet dream

[–]cronies4life 0 points1 point  (0 children)

a simple solution is to charge satellite erp $50 per km pricing to reduce cte jam

[–]wakkawakkaaaa 撿cardboard 19 points20 points  (4 children)

They plan to continue growing Yishun, sembawang and the areas between there and town.

If they don't do it, it'll end up like the traffic shit show around Serangoon Road towards kovan/punggol which only gets slightly better with the flyover around Serangoon

[–]repeatrep 18 points19 points  (1 child)

they need another MRT line, not a highway. Yishun & Kathib station is already overcrowded and the TEL doesnt rly relive NSL

[–]wakkawakkaaaa 撿cardboard 5 points6 points  (0 children)

singapore is still a car-first infrasturcture.

afaik it does relief additional load from Woodlands and Sembawang with the TEL

with the NSC they may implement more peak express buses to help relief the NSL

[–]Hot-Job-6281 0 points1 point  (1 child)

What you talking lolol Serangoon Road is in Little India. How much do you even know the basic road names.

If you mean Upper Serangoon Road, the traffic there isn't that bad these days, with both CTE and KPE to parallelise the flow from Central and East to the Northeast.

It's way worse underground in the NEL itself.

[–]wakkawakkaaaa 撿cardboard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

upper serangoon road isn't that bad precisely because of the viaduct which starts at around bidadari / lower end of upper serangoon road.

traffic is shit from serangoon road till lower part of upper serangoon road around potong pasir/bidadari during peak hour. by having the NSC (half of it is a via duct, half of it is underground) it'll help reduce this kinda shit as the north continue growing

and yes, they can try to improve both road traffic and train traffic at the same time.

[–]Reasonable-Ferret-96 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Mostly is to resolve the connection issues between northern 3 towns to SLE (and CTE). Woodlands ave 12 towards Sembawang and Lentor ave towards Yishun and is jamming every hour in daytime, if NSC exists, the travel time can cut at least 10 minutes on these two road alone, not to mention the relief of traffic for CTE. Only problem is the general “poor” public don’t even get access to car ownership, not really much benefit for them after decades of inconvenience

[–]lesspylons 41 points42 points  (0 children)

The viaduct sections will negatively affect the houses there forever, and the gains seems rather minimal compared to investment in new rail lines.

[–]GelatoBravado 60 points61 points  (2 children)

I live right beside one of the construction sites. The works and massive excavation machines roar overnight, almost every single night.

The contractor have been breaching the noise limits for years, but no real will by LTA (the project manager) and NEA to do anything because it’s a national project. If it were private contractors they’ll actually do something about it.

So all of us, tens of thousands of people living along the entire stretch of construction have to suffer illegal noise pollution for years.

Here I was thinking that we live in a country which abides by the rule of law. But all for the greater good right? We’re sounding dangerously like China where human lives and health are secondary considerations to national projects.

[–]max_wen 16 points17 points  (0 children)

This is good point. The CRL contractor is private and they've been excellent responding to noise complaints. The NSC? Not so much.

[–]Sure-Teaching-9661 1 point2 points  (0 children)

dangerously like China where human lives and health are secondary considerations to national projects.

Crazy how people still have these types of outdated propagandised views.

[–]yellowsuprrcar 14 points15 points  (1 child)

Pity the business, kena fuck for so many years already

[–]may0_sandwich 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh many already left or bankrupt.

[–]endlessftw 14 points15 points  (1 child)

How useful can this highway be if LTA has not made it explicit there would be express buses direct to the northern towns?

As a Yishun resident, who cares if there are bus lanes? The current trunk routes are garbage (except for 969/858, and aside, hopefully LTA does not go full retard and add more stops to cater for Punggol/Sengkang that they seem to be intending, and ruin the north’s only quick connection to the east).

851 is still going to take more than an hour to go to town anyway, despite following the NSC very closely, since it stops at every stop from Yishun all the way down. 857 would not benefit because it does not follow the NSC much.

851e might be significantly faster only if they amend it to use NSC instead, given the current large detour, which may give around 15 mins of time saving and cutting a journey to around 45 mins long to/from Yishun. Even then, the shit frequency (scheduled trips can even go missing sometimes!!!) and higher price and lack of time savings (it is still not time saving for Yishun) compared to MRT means it will not be that popular, no surprise right?

851e is exactly what I warned against 969 being “full retard” above by amending and giving it a few more stops. It could have been 969-like for direct town connection, but the extremely time consuming detour to cater to AMK destroyed its effectiveness. Even an expressway and bus lanes cannot make it much better. 857e suffers the same stupidity. Cater to the few people along YCK and sacrifice the majority in Yishun.

If there is a new 851e that skips AMK entirely and uses the NSC, and add a new stop only at Novena MRT, then it would probably cut down journey timing to something very competitive vs MRT, and I am very sure it would be extremely popular. Just see 969/858.

Would LTA be willing to amend knowing that if it becomes so efficient, demand will shoot up and they will have to increase frequency drastically (from the 30 mins at present)? Would they be willing to charge normal trunk fare like 969/858 rather than express fare?

Plus, all the above is based on the assumption that the bus lane is in the NSC and not just the surface roads being repainted as bus only. If there are dozens of traffic junctions, a lot of the time savings will be destroyed.

So far, as far as I am aware, mock-ups clearly implies the latter. You make your own view about this…

If it turns out so crappy, then what the fuck is the use of NSC for commuters without the means to own a car?

Just give us the fucking Seletar line and stop giving us propaganda that this glorified highway is going to make Yishun better.

[–]forty_3 2 points3 points  (0 children)

969/858 FTW

[–]cherrypoplar 53 points54 points  (2 children)

The construction has been awful for everyone nearby and there are no massive benefits that justify this. The main beneficiaries are the construction companies and the GDP number go up.

[–]Only-Restaurant-650 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Construction is one of the biggest industry in Singapore, this will probably keep happening to boost the economy

[–]Zkang123 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Singapore has been investing in many infrastructure projects anyway

[–]AlexHollows Mature Citizen 18 points19 points  (0 children)

As someone that leaves along the construction, the loss of huge trees, natural shade and the almost daily traffic disruption is a huge negative that will be an even bigger negative form the noise and urban heat island effect we will experience once this expressway comes to life.

We can talk about good benefits if this was an mrt track, but an expressway is gonna mostly benefit the rich who can afford cars, not the plebs like us living along the route.

[–]risingsuncocSenior Citizen 29 points30 points  (2 children)

Personally am sceptical if the costs of the NSC (both monetary and inconveniences over the years) will be worth it

[–]ImpressiveStrike4196 4 points5 points  (0 children)

They can charge tolls to recoup the costs. At one point the LTA thought of letting private operators build and operate expressways to minimise the use of government money in exchange for the right to charge tolls.

[–]Forward-Rub-2850 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Why sceptical? Worth it for who?

[–]stevekez West side best side 18 points19 points  (1 child)

Once it's built it'll need expanding. Just one more lane will do, I promise.

[–]FunerealCrape 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Three road widenings later they will still promise us that one more will do the trick.

Express trains? Don't be silly. There's no room.

[–]CaptsuperwombatNon-constituency 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Reminder that it was conceived as an expressway project and not whatever they are trying to package it. As someone in the north end, and seeing where the viaduct access will be, i have no confidence in the concept they are trying to sell.

[–]hansolo-ist 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This is all for a higher population size, part of the governments plans to grow GDP. Given the size and scale of the NSC, I think there's a lot more growth to be expected. 9 million from 6 is 50% more people.

[–]G4m3boy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Never ending construction. Why citizens are not consulted before going ahead with this project. Pity those who have construction outside their house for the entirety of the construction and even after it is completed, the sound of never ending traffic noise. It was really unbearable listening to it every second.

[–]dwimorden 3 points4 points  (0 children)

When my kids were born in Thomson medical center, the construction are on-going.

Now kids reach secondary school, the construction is still going on strong.

[–]Any_Mechanic7876 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can now legit sell more COE cos more roads

[–]Lonely-Attention-261 [score hidden]  (0 children)

they voted for it, don't complain

[–]mindfreck13Mature Citizen 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Result of overcrowding

[–]Hot-Job-6281 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The construction basically unstonks an entire town that used to be considered prime real estate, all for extremely marginal gains.

Definitely one of those GDP-boosting busywork, setting the runway for 9 million with expansion in the North.

By the time it's done, the jobs will probably be even further up North, and the extra 3 million they plan to get will be staying home not coming to live in SG, instead taking the HSR to take rice bowls.

[–]paddlebash87 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wait till you live right before the shell station before Thomson medical. I doubt anyone has it worse.

[–]TaskPlane1321 1 point2 points  (0 children)

someone made the decision to proceed with this debacle causing inconvience for over a decade. who?!

[–]flakzx 1 point2 points  (0 children)

white elephant project

[–]No-Confidence-578 0 points1 point  (1 child)

And this won’t be the last…sure there’s a lot ambitious national projects on the master plan that will take decades to build

[–]Hostile_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And that's a bad thing?

[–]Lhjw3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

North South Chaos

[–]bahzbub 0 points1 point  (0 children)

People who live in Balestier:

[–]Defiant_Shoe3053 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

If the attitudes of this thread held sway we'd hever built the MRT.

[–]arcturuz78 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Imagine the next national project coming up soon.

The nuclear power plant.

[–]Hereiamonce -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Coe crash incoming