New bridge to Sentosa

It's gotten even easier to get into Sentosa Island now.

Open today at 7:18 am is a new bridge linking Sentosa to mainland Singapore, which makes driving into the island such a breeze.


We were sooooo excited as we sat in the company shuttle bus to work!



The 710 m bridge, built at a cost of more than S$80 million, links not only to the main island, but also runs direct to our underground car park, which would, of course be open next year once the resort is up and running, in anticipation of the 13 million visitors to the integrated resort.


Hence, from now till July 22, all inbound and outbound traffic will go on this bridge, while the older bridge will be closed to facilitate the final phase of works.

Work on the bridge begun in March 2008, and we were all excited everytime we traveled to and fro on the old bridge, as we could see the whole construction as it progressed. (Brings warmth to the our hearts knowing that we are literally in the thick of the action, watching as history unfolds and change is made to the Singapore landscape.)

Up next, a 620-metre long timbre boardwalk connecting VivoCity to Sentosa will be built by the Sentosa Leisure Group. The Mount Faber Leisure Group will be likewise increasing and improving its cable car system to cater to the projected increase in visitorship.

Also, a series of road works is now underway along Telok Blangah Rd and Kampong Bahru Rd, where road widening will take place and be completed before we open.

Cool stuff!

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Our official press release:

Sentosa & Resorts World lay the ground for smoother rides
*New vehicular bridge to complement existing Sentosa Gateway

*Steady improvements to road network in and around Sentosa

Singapore, 8 July 2009 – Construction of Sentosa’s new vehicular bridge is complete and it
welcomed its first stream of traffic this morning at 7.18am.

From today till 22 July, all inbound and outbound traffic on Sentosa will be diverted onto this
new bridge which runs parallel to the existing bridge. Concurrently, the existing bridge will be
closed to facilitate the final phase of works.

The bridge, which costs more than S$80 million to build, was commissioned by Resorts
World at Sentosa (RWS) in view of the anticipated 13 million visitors to the integrated family
destination when it opens in early 2010. McConnell Dowell, an Australian-based engineering
and construction company, started constructing the bridge in March 2008.

When fully ready, the enhanced Sentosa Gateway will feature the new vehicular bridge,
which will connect inbound traffic from the mainland to Sentosa, and the existing link, which
will operate as the outbound carriageway bringing guests from Sentosa to the mainland.
Sentosa Gateway will then be widened from a dual-lane bridge to a three-lane carriageway
for each direction of traffic.

“Sentosa Gateway is poised to take on the increase in traffic volume when Resorts World at
Sentosa opens its doors, and as more residents move in to their homes at Sentosa Cove”,
said Mike Barclay, CEO of Sentosa Leisure Group, which built the original causeway-bridge
in 1991 and has maintained it ever since. “We have also been working closely with the
authorities on a host of traffic management measures that will complement this new and
enhanced link to help ease the flow on the roads, re-channel traffic and prevent bottlenecks”,
he added.

RWS’s Executive Vice President of Projects, Mr Michael Chin, said: “We built the new
causeway bridge as we are committed to providing our visitors a world-class destination, and
their memorable holiday experience must include hassle-free access to and from our Resort
and Sentosa.”

In 2008, the Land Transport Authority announced a package of road improvement measures
aimed at enhancing the travel experience for visitors to the Sentosa-Harbour Front area,
including the construction of a new Gateway Tunnel to meet the long term increase in traffic
demand and the tunnel is slated for completion in 2015.

A series of road works is currently underway along Telok Blangah Road and Kampong Bahru
Road, which includes the road widening works along Telok Blangah Road and Kampong
Bahru Road slated for completion when Resorts World at Sentosa opens.

To complement the widening of Sentosa Gateway and the road improvement plans, Sentosa
Leisure Group will be boosting the capacity of its island transportation by increasing the
Sentosa Express fleet. A new 620-metre long timber boardwalk connecting from VivoCity to
Sentosa will be constructed to provide another link into the island.

The tender for the project has been awarded and details will be announced next month. Mount Faber Leisure Group will also be upgrading and expanding its cable car system to cater to the expected increase in guest traffic in the Southern Precinct and will rebrand the cable cars as a premium gateway to Sentosa.