Marina Coastal Expressway is now open

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http://news.xin.msn.com/en/singapore/smooth-flowing-traffic-as-marina-coastal-expressway-opens#scpshrtu

Motorists travelling to the Marina downtown now have direct access. Singapore's latest highway - the Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) - opened to traffic on Sunday.

The MCE was conceived to help realise the vision of a new Downtown @ Marina Bay.

It links the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE), East Coast Parkway (ECP) and Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE). It has the widest highway in Singapore with five lanes in each direction.

It also has the smoothest road surface, the only public road which surpasses this standard is the Marina Bay Formula One Circuit.

By putting the MCE underground, part of the ECP that currently cuts through the city centre, will be removed. This allows the old business district to seamlessly join the new downtown.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said traffic was smooth-flowing within the MCE tunnel. However, there were slowdowns near the expressway - along Central Boulevard and Marina Boulevard.

Some motorists, however, seemed unfamiliar with how to enter the MCE.

Ms Caroline Cornelius Jones, a motorist, said: "Coming from the east was very easy. But then (I) carried on and head through Shenton (Way) and then it starts to get a bit tricky, because nothing is quite open yet. So, it took me like 20 minutes to come back again!"

With the road network changes, motorists on the ECP need to take Exit 14B to enter the MCE, before connecting to the AYE.