Macritchie
How is it involved in the construction of the Cross Island Line
The Proposal (2): On the skirts of Macritchie
An alternative method was put forward with an aim to minimise contact with the nature reserve. The railway will be built underground under homes, businesses and buildings which surround the CCNR. The alignments of the two routes can be compared in the picture shown below.
Problems and Implications
As stated in the LTA website, this alternative route allows a shorter travelling time of only 10-15 minutes for East-West line commuters as compared to the current approximated 40 minutes journey by bus. This allows greater comfort for commuters and significantly shorter journey times. Furthermore, the line would be extended from Pasir Ris to the eastern side and serve the people living in the Punggol area. Despite the comfort that commuters can expect from the shorter ride, there are still prices that we have to pay before reaping its benefits.
One negative implication would be that of the inconvenience brought to the residents living along the skirts of the CCNR. Buildings such as homes and offices in that area will be affected as the construction takes place on the bed of the Earth while installing supporting ventilation facilities on the surface level. Factors to be considered would be; Cost and impact on home- or land-owners.
One greatest inconvenience for the residents in that area would be the noise exposure from operating the four standard A-frame rigs along the skirts of the CCNR. It is found that the drilling operations would hit a large magnitude for the residents living within 3 metres proximity as well as the Mount Alvernia hospital. However, the exposure of construction noise is considered to be short and the LTA has re-categorised its impact magnitude as moderate level.
Plans to relocate the residents and worksites have also been proposed. Besides that, other measures to mitigate the impacts of high noise level are also suggested, such as building noise barriers and using of low noise machineries. These plans are, however, hard to implement due to the high concentration of educational institutions, residential properties and healthcare buildings in that area. Health of many people will be affected. Key mitigation measure identified to reduce this problem are namely, to inform people in that vicinity of the construction schedule, explain to them the details of the activities being carried out to gain understanding and brief them of complaints reporting procedures.
Another key problem to this proposal is with regards to the higher cost of building the longer route. This route skirts around Adam Road for about 9km for 6 minutes. Also, this alignment needs about 250 boreholes to be drilled for futher studies on its ground conditions. These will all amount close to an additional $2 billion. The Land Transport Minister, Mr Khaw Boon Wan has provided his view over this issue in his statement earlier this March 2016 as shown below.
