The closure of Lim Chu Kang road bids its final farewell, Singaporeans bid it one last goodbye.
With the closure of old Lim Chu Kang Road (LCK Road) on June 8 2025, many Singaporeans have come together to visit this piece of heritage one last time before the road closes for public use.
On 26 May 2025, The Land Transport Authority (LTA) published a news release detailing the opening of the realigned Lim Chu Kang Road, a replacement route for the original stretch, and announcing the decommissioning of the stretch to make way for the expansion of Tengah Air Base.
Lim Chu Kang Road is one of five roads recognized as a heritage site.
The Heritage Road Scheme, launched in 2001 by the National Parks Board, aims to recognize roads for their scenic and tree-lined backdrop, a rarer sight to see in urbanized Singapore. In 2006, Lim Chu Kang Road and four other roads were gazetted as Heritage Roads.
As opposed to the common stretches in Singapore, Lim Chu Kang Road is very rural, missing much of the urban landscape that lines almost everywhere else in Singapore.
Additionally, the stretch’s straight and wide roads were adapted by the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) to be used as an emergency runway, dubbed Exercise Torrent, or known as the Alternate Runway Exercise.
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| Image credit: Pinterest |
To date, only seven instances of Exercise Torrent were conducted, the first exercise being conducted on 17 April 1986. These exercises adapt Lim Chu Kang Road by dismantling to-be obstacles to make the road safe for landing. Removal of fixtures would include lamp posts, bus stops, road signs and more, to make the location clear for aircraft to land on the road.
Lim Chu Kang Road also connects to the Muslim burial grounds of Pusara Aman and Chinese burial grounds of Choa Chu Kang Cemetery. As part of the the expansion of Tengah Air Base, both locations will see phased exhumation of the graves which will commence after the road closure.
On the 6 and 7 of June, Singaporeans gathered to Lim Chu Kang Road to drop by the iconic road one more time. Many people from many interests and walks of life – Bus spotters, car enthusiasts, cyclists, bike enthusiasts and more showed up once more. A once-empty stretch of road now accomodated its highest volume of traffic one last time.
For enthusiasts, LCK road or more known as “40 Tiang”, was a popular spot as a quiet hangout place and drag racing. LCK road within the enthusiast circle is very well-known for these races that started as early as the 1990s.
Searching at a surface-level glance will provide Crimewatch’s re-enactment of one such race, featuring originally a Lamborghini Murciélago SV and a Nissan GT-R.
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| Photographed on Friday (6 June), more night photos will be released in a later article. Stay tuned! |
For bus enthusiasts, closure of Lim Chu Kang road will also mean that the original bus routes and bus stops will be removed.
Many visited the stretch one last time to photograph the buses and their last times navigating the original routes, as the routes will be redirected after the closure.
Bus services 975, 405 and 172 will see their routes changed to skip or use the eight new bus stops lining the realigned Lim Chu Kang road.
Bus enthusiasts will note that some older and rarer bus models are still being used in Lim Chu Kang, one being the Mercedes-Benz OC500LE, an older-generation bus still in service.
As these buses are reaching their 17-year statutory lifespan, they will also be phased out shortly after the closure of the road – between September 2025 and September 2026 – and will likely not see their lifespans extended.
While not necessarily a high-traffic road, Lim Chu Kang road has undoubtedly been a strong part of Singapore. In my opinion, it is one of Singapore’s last few remmants of things of old – what surrounds it physically, culturally and socially.
Attached in the gallery will be other images of that day I was there, the second entry into this archives will include more of my car and a Civic EK4.
Much as I came here only three times in total, the folks I’ve met, spoke with, and seen drive past is enough for me to have had great appreciation for this road. I’ll miss it.
~Efini
Gallery:
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