Tampines Expressway from Jalan Kayu Flyover.Tampines Expressway from Exit 9, Punggol Road heading towards Exit 7 and 7A
The expressway was constructed alongside the development of Tampines New Town in the 1980s.[1] On 22 February 1986, tenders were called for the first section of the expressway. Work began on 5 August 1986 to widen the existing portions of Tampines Road. The first section of the expressway, stretching from the PIE to Elias Road, opened on 30 September 1987.[2]
On 19 November 1987, the contracts for the second phase of the expressway were awarded to Sembawang Construction and Hock Lian Seng Engineering. Phase 2 of the expressway, stretching westward from Elias Road to Lorong Halus, began construction on 24 December 1987 and opened on 30 May 1989.[3]
In the 1990s, extensions towards the west were made to connect the TPE with the CTE and SLE to serve the newer residential areas of Sengkang and Punggol and provide a continuous expressway link between the northern and eastern parts of the island. These extensions acquired much of Lorong Lumut, Lorong Halus Village, Cheng Lim Farmway, Jalan Kayu Village, Lorong Andong, Lorong Anchak and Boh Sua Tian Road. On 30 August 1992, the Public Works Department began construction of Punggol Flyover. On 13 April 1993, a local firm was awarded the tender to extend the TPE to Seletar. On 30 June 1994, the Public Works Department awarded a $38.9 million contract to Koh Brothers Building and Civil Engineering Contractor Pte Ltd for the construction of the Lorong Halus road interchange. The expressway was completed in August 1996 after the Lorong Halus interchange was completed.[4]
In 1998, two new viaducts and a loop connecting the TPE and PIE were constructed to reduce travelling times between Pasir Ris, Tampines and Changi Airport.[1]
On 19 Feb 2023, Tampines Viaduct was opened to the public.[5] This newly constructed one-way viaduct allows motorists traveling eastbound along TPE to directly access the PIE traveling towards Tuas in the westbound direction using the newly opened Exit 2A.[6] The viaduct was initially scheduled to open in early 2020, but fatal collapse occurred during construction of the viaduct in 2017, which resulted in one dead and 10 injured.[7] Following the incident, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced that the project would be completed by another company instead, which resulted in the viaduct eventually completed after a three-year delay.
On 22 Jan 2024, the Seletar Link Flyover was opened to the public.[8] The flyover provides an alternative route to/from Seletar Link, which previously only provided westbound access via Exit 11.[9] The development of the flyover is intended to support the expected future growth in neighbouring Punggol Town and Pulau Punggol Timor (an artificial island located north of Seletar), as well as Sengkang Town via planned road Sengkang West Drive in the future.
