The runway of Lim Chu Kang Road

Lim Chu Kang Road is a trunk road that has been serving the remote northwest of Singapore Island since 1931. Presently, it can be divided into two parts according to width. The southern stretch is a three-lane dual carriageway south of the junction with Ama Keng Road, while the northern stretch is a single-lane dual carriageway north of the junction.

Today, we explored the former, which runs for around 3.3km from the junction with Old Choa Chu Kang Road to Ama Keng Road.

The junction with Old Choa Chu Kang Road.

This 3.3km stretch also serves as an alternate runway for the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF). Since 1986, the RSAF has been practising launch and recovery operations on the alternate runway. The last exercise, Exercise Torrent, took place in November 2016.

It is clear that this stretch of road can be used as a runway - the road is straight and wide, there is plenty of open space, and there are only bushes, no trees. It is easy to imagine planes taking off and landing on this strip.

This alternate runway was created in the 1980s. Originally, all of Lim Chu Kang Road was a single-lane dual carriageway, and the stretch from Choa Chu Kang Road (now Old Choa Chu Kang Road) to Ama Keng Road was a reverse-C shape (see the 1978 street directory map below).

By 1984 (below), a straighter channel had been laid down, resulting in the expungement of a number of tracks, such as Lorong Pasak and Lorong Kikir. The original Lim Chu Kang Road was retained as Old Lim Chu Kang Road.

By 1991 (below), the land west of the new Lim Chu Kang Road was cleared for agriculture. Tracks such as Lorong Lihat, Lorong Ensel, and Lorong Pintu were expunged for Murai Farmway and its farms.

Lim Chu Kang Veterinary Station moved out sometime before 2009. Today, Old Lim Chu Kang Road is surrounded by military camps: Tengah Airbase, Lim Chu Kang Camp I, and Murai Camp.

The bus stops along this stretch of Lim Chu Kang Road are of the old, classic sort, hardly found anywhere else.

Opposite Lim Chu Kang Camp I.

The junction with Old Lim Chu Kang Road.

Always excited to see the remains of an old, defunct road - this time, it’s traces of Lorong Tukol.

Jalan Murai has survived, and now serves the Murai Urban Training Facility.

A bend lies ahead - and beyond, Lim Chu Kang Road narrows to a single-lane dual carriageway.

This stretch of Lim Chu Kang Road, and Old Lim Chu Kang Road, Jalan Murai, and Murai Farmway, all look to be on borrowed time - Tengah Airbase will be expanded westward in the next few years, changing the landscape of the area.

Things have already been set in motion. Around 80,000 Chinese and Muslim graves in Choa Chu Kang Cemetery Complex have been exhumed; the complex will see its size shrink by 100 hectares, or a third. The six farms of Murai Farmway have moved out. And roadworks to construct a new road to replace the runway stretch of Lim Chu Kang Road have already begun; the new road will be completed in 2025 (below).

Credit: Land Transport Authority.

One thing’s for sure - this area will see plenty of change in the next few years.

Change in Tanjong Pagar II

I dropped by Tanjong Pagar Railway Station yesterday.

Up to 30 June 2011, the railway station was the southern terminus of the Keretapi Tanah Melayu West Coast Railway Line.

Presently, it’s closed and off limits, as the site will be integrated with Cantonment MRT Station, one of three stations being constructed as part of Stage 6 of the Circle MRT Line. Cantonment station will open in 2026.

The front of the railway station, propped up to withstand years of construction work.

The railway station is along Spottiswoode Park Road.

The historic railway platforms behind the station have been removed and will be kept in storage during construction of the MRT station and line. They will be restored when construction is completed.

The MRT construction site. The railway platforms used to be here.

Here’s looking forward to the railway station being restored to its former glory in five years.

Nepal Circus, a transport vestige

As discussed in my book, Jalan Singapura, there are only half a dozen registered traffic roundabouts, or “circuses”, left in Singapore. This is one of them: Nepal Circus, next to one-north MRT Station in the Buona Vista area.

Facing south.

This roundabout is also the only one in Singapore which is connected to just one road - Portsdown Road - which defeats the purpose of a roundabout in the first place, as they are supposed to connect two or more roads.

Nepal Circus is presently a transport vestige because of its past.

In 1945, Buona Vista Road ran through a hilly area from Holland Road to the coast at Pasir Panjang Road. North of the junction with Ayer Rajah Road, it wound past three hills at heights of 125 feet, 120 feet (named Buona Vista Road II), and 80 feet.

A map of the area in 1945, with the three hills shaded light blue.

Base picture credit: Survey Department, Singapore.

Sometime between 1945 and 1950, the British built Slim Barracks at the foot of Buona Vista Road II, to house Gurkhas, soldiers recruited from Nepal and famed for their fighting prowess and loyalty. The Gurkhas were led by British officers of course. They and their families were given accommodation in the form of bungalows constructed on the 125-feet hill and Buona Vista Road II.

Because of the Gurkhas, Buona Vista Road II was named Nepal Park; because of the British connection, the 125-feet hill was named Rochester Park, after Rochester, Kent; the road which connected Buona Vista Road (later North Buona Vista Road) to Nepal Park was named Portsdown Road, after Portsdown Hill, Hampshire.

The area in 1954.

Portsdown Road met North Buona Vista Road at a steep curve, which resulted in a Y junction. To ease traffic flow, a roundabout was built there sometime between 1966 and 1969. As it was near Nepal Park, the roundabout was named Nepal Circus.

The area in 1972, with the roundabout shaded light blue.

Soon, there was a need to straighten North Buona Vista Road, perhaps because traffic volume on it was far higher than that on Portsdown Road. Hence, the straightening was done between 1981 and 1984, while Nepal Circus remained where it was. The result was a roundabout that had lost its purpose, but for some reason was never expunged.

The area in 1984.

The area in 2000.

After that, the Portsdown Road area saw significant development, as it was integrated into the one-north business precinct. The old Portsdown Prison made way for Fusionopolis. Nepal Park’s colonial bungalows were incorporated into Four Acres Singapore, a leadership development facility run by Unilever. One-north MRT Station brought the Mass Rapid Transit system to the area.

Amidst all these, Nepal Circus has somehow survived.

The view of the roundabout today, from Portsdown Road. The roundabout is mostly used for free parking.

A bird’s eye view of the area today.

Base picture credit: Google Maps.

In the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s 2019 Master Plan, there is no Nepal Circus, so I’m not sure for how long the curious transport vestige will remain.

Credit: Urban Redevelopment Authority.