Nicoll Highway

The Nicoll Highway is coloured lime green in this map.

Nicoll Highway, towards the central business district.

Nicoll Highway (Chinese: 尼诰大道; Malay: Lebuhraya Nicoll) is a major arterial road in Singapore which links Kallang to the city. En route, it passes through the areas of Kallang, Kampong Glam and Marina Centre.

Despite what its name may suggest, the speed limit on the highway is less than that of an expressway. The highway also has traffic light junctions at some of its intersection with roads such as Bras Basah Road and Esplanade Drive, which are not found in expressways.

History

When the Merdeka Bridge was completed over the Kallang River in 1956, Nicoll Highway formed the vital link between the city centre and the rapidly growing east coast. Nicoll Highway's role is now taken over by the Benjamin Sheares Bridge on the East Coast Parkway.The highway was named after Sir John Fearns Nicoll, Governor of the Colony from 1952 to 1955.

Nicoll Highway collapse

Main article: Nicoll Highway collapse

At approximately 3:30 p.m. Singapore Time (UTC+8:00) on April 20, 2004, a section of Nicoll Highway between Ophir Road and Merdeka Bridge collapsed, due to the failure of the retaining wall of the Circle Line tunnel below it. This section of the road to be closed for several months for repairs. All bus services going through that sector of Nicoll Highway had to be redirected. The road was re-opened in December later that year.

Landmarks

Some landmarks that can be seen along the road are:

• Civilian War Memorial
• Golden Mile Complex
• Golden Mile Tower
• Merdeka Bridge
• National Stadium
• One Raffles Link
• People's Association
• Shaw Tower
• Suntec City
• The Concourse
• The Gateway
• War Memorial Park

Interchange along Nicoll Highway

Interchange with1	Type	Remarks	Name of interchange
KPE, Sims Way, Guillemard Road and Mountbatten Road	Box	Start of Nicoll Highway leading westbound; end of Nicoll Highway leading eastbound	-
Stadium Road and links from Stadium Drive	3-way	-	-
Stadium Road	Flyover	-	Merdaka Bridge
Crawford Road and Republic Avenue	Flyover	-	Merdaka Bridge
Java Road	3-way	There is also a 3-way link from Republic Avenue	-
Ophir Road	Flyover	Ophir Road travels southbound only	Ophir Flyover
Rochor Road	Flyover	Rochor Road travels northbound only	Rochor Flyover
Middle Road	3-way	-	-
Raffles Boulevard and Bras Basah Road	Box	Raffles Boulevard and Bras Basah Road travels eastbound only	-
Raffles Avenue, Esplanade Drive and Stamford Road	Box	Raffles Avenue and Stamford Road travels westbound only; Start of ORRS going northbound; end of ORRS going southbound	-

^Note 1 : Road names are ordered in the clockwise fashion starting from the top.

See also

• Expressways of Singapore
• Outer Ring Road System
• West Coast Highway, Singapore

References

• Norman Edwards, Peter Keys (1996), Singapore - A Guide to Buildings, Streets, Places, Times Books International, ISBN 9971-65-231-5
• Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2003), Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names, Eastern Universities Press, ISBN 981-210-205-1