INSTEAD of just raising Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges and extending the ERP hours, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) should also look into why traffic is slowing at these points ("ERP at three AYE gantries extended by half an hour"; last Wednesday).
The traffic congestion in the morning along the Ayer Rajah Expressway is due to road design flaws and bottlenecks.
Clementi Avenue 6 is the main road connecting the Pan-Island Expressway and the AYE.
It also serves several big housing estates, which have grown in recent years due to more high-rise condominiums being built. Traffic slows to a crawl as drivers have to look out for buses as well.
Meanwhile, in Clementi Avenue 2, traffic flow is slow due to vehicles filtering left to Clementi Road.
At the AYE Exit 7B to Portsdown Road, a bottleneck creates jams at the slip road, which results in traffic building up all the way to North Buona Vista Road.
Another big bottleneck is the area where the AYE splits into the Central Expressway (CTE) and Keppel Viaduct.
Slow vehicles are usually in the centre and left lanes, but they have to filter right to get onto the CTE, thus slowing down the faster vehicles in the right lane.
The LTA must look at how to resolve these problems in order to smoothen the traffic flow, instead of just increasing ERP charges.
David Goh Chee Hoe
The traffic congestion in the morning along the Ayer Rajah Expressway is due to road design flaws and bottlenecks.
Clementi Avenue 6 is the main road connecting the Pan-Island Expressway and the AYE.
It also serves several big housing estates, which have grown in recent years due to more high-rise condominiums being built. Traffic slows to a crawl as drivers have to look out for buses as well.
Meanwhile, in Clementi Avenue 2, traffic flow is slow due to vehicles filtering left to Clementi Road.
At the AYE Exit 7B to Portsdown Road, a bottleneck creates jams at the slip road, which results in traffic building up all the way to North Buona Vista Road.
Another big bottleneck is the area where the AYE splits into the Central Expressway (CTE) and Keppel Viaduct.
Slow vehicles are usually in the centre and left lanes, but they have to filter right to get onto the CTE, thus slowing down the faster vehicles in the right lane.
The LTA must look at how to resolve these problems in order to smoothen the traffic flow, instead of just increasing ERP charges.
David Goh Chee Hoe
