The road was named after Sir John Fearns Nicoll, governor of the Colony of Singapore in the early 1950s, who played a major role in ensuring its construction.

[2] These plans were finalised in July 1953,[3] with work on the first section of the road, a bridge across the Kallang and Rochor rivers, commencing construction in early 1954.

[4] Costing a total of $12 million, Nicoll Highway was opened by then-Chief Minister Lim Yew Hock on 17 August 1956.

[5] With the road's opening, traffic conditions were greatly improved, and travel times to the city area cut by 25 to 35 minutes.

[8] At approximately 3:30 p.m. Singapore Time (UTC+8:00) on 20 April 2004, a section of Nicoll Highway between Ophir Road and Merdeka Bridge collapsed, due to the failure of the retaining wall of the Circle line tunnel below it.