Clemenceau Avenue

The original Clemenceau Avenue stretched from Newton Circus to the southern bank of the Singapore River. It was conceived as an alternative access between the northwestern sector of the city and Orchard Road, which was then served by Cairnhill Road and Cavenagh Road. Today, Clemenceau Avenue is cut by the roadways and tunnels of the Central Expressway (CTE).

Clemenceau Avenue was named after Georges Clemenceau (b. 1841–d. 1929), twice premier of France who visited Singapore from 17 to 22 October 1920. Clemenceau was on an eastern tour of the Far East and invited to witness the laying of the foundation stone of the Cenotaph at the Esplanade. In honour of his courage and fortitude during World War I (1914–18), the municipal commissioners obtained Clemenceau’s consent to use his name for the new main road linking up Orchard Road with Bukit Timah Road. Clemenceau inaugurated the ground-breaking ceremony of the construction of Clemenceau Avenue on 22 October 1920. During the occasion, he also planted two trees, one on each side of the new road. In his acknowledgement speech, Clemenceau hailed the avenue as a symbol of friendship between England and France.

Although construction of the road was meant to have begun in 1920, work did not commence until 1928. Construction of this road was expensive due to its extent. A section of Tank Road, stretching from Orchard Road to Fort Canning Road, was replaced by the Clemenceau Avenue extension to River Valley Road. The first part of the road opened in November 1929. On 13 December 1929, a committee of the Municipal Commission approved an excess expenditure of $12,000 on Clemenceau Avenue. Another $74,000 was approved by the Municipal Commission in 1933 for extension works from Cuppage Road to Newton Circus, for which acquisitions of land was required.

Clemenceau Avenue is the first road to feature mercury-vapour electric lamps - 28 of them were installed from Cavenagh Road to Newton Circus. Old gas-filled lamps were replaced by lamps on spun-concrete poles with underground wiring. The replacement works costs $13,000 and was completed in March 1940.