Bukit Timah Road is the longest road in Singapore, not including the expressways. Named after Bukit Timah, the hill at the centre of the island, Bukit Timah Road begins at the intersection with Selegie Road and Serangoon Road across from Rochor Canal Road, until the interchange with the Pan Island Expressway at Anak Bukit, where it continues as Upper Bukit Timah Road, ending at the intersection with Choa Chu Kang Road and Bukit Panjang Road, in front of Ten Mile Junction, from where it continues as Woodlands Road.
The southern end of Bukit Timah Road was known as Tekka Kanga Kie in Hokkien, meaning "By the bank of the Bamboo Grove", as there were bamboos growing in the vicinity of the Selegie Road intersection. The Tekka name is still seen today in Tekka Mall, the local shopping centre there.
Between Serangoon Road and the PIE interchange, Bukit Timah Road forms intersections and junctions with Mayne Road, Mackenzie Road, Cavenagh Road, Winstedt Drive, Winstedt Road, Newton Circus, Sarkies Road, Balmoral Road, Kang Chin Road, Robin Road, Robin Drive, Robin Lane, Robin Walk, Stevens Road, Lewis Road, Dalvey Estate, Evans Road, Kheam Hock Road, Cluny Park Road, Farrer Road, Duke Road, Queen's Road, King's Road, Coronation Road, Coronation Walk, Princess of Wales Road, Duchess Road, Namly Avenue, First Avenue, Second Avenue, Third Avenue, Fourth Avenue, Sixth Avenue, Anamalai Avenue, Maple Avenue, Old Holland Road, Wilby Road, Blackmore Drive, King Albert Park and Clementi Road on the south side, and with Jalan Anak Bukit, Makepeace Road, Hooper Road, Kampong Java Road and Race Course Road to the north. Between Newton Circus and the intersection with Jalan Anak Bukit, the road across the canal from Bukit Timah Road is known as Dunearn Road.
Cutting across the hinterland of Singapore, Bukit Timah Road was laid out in the 1840's. At that time, much of Singapore was still covered with dense forest with plenty of tigers. The laying out of Bukit Timah Road allows the forest to be cleared for gambier and pepper plantations. However, it brought closer contact between humans and wildlife. In the 1860's, it was reported that 200 farmers were killed by tiger attacks in the plantations in Singapore.
Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.