Facelift for Pasir Ris: New flats, seamless rides and quick access to beach

SINGAPORE — Residents in Pasir Ris and Tampines will soon get to enjoy seamless rides and strolls to the beach, as part of new plans to rejuvenate the Republic’s eastern-most residential town.

The centrepiece of the upcoming changes, which will be introduced over the next five to 10 years, is a 1.2km central greenway stretching from the Tampines Expressway to the Pasir Ris Park.

The greenway will separate cyclists and pedestrians from vehicular traffic. Comprising both ground-level as well as elevated cycling and walking paths, the green spine will loop through a new mixed-use development in the heart of town and housing developments to its north. 

It was designed based on residents’ feedback on how their experiences walking and cycling — their top two modes of getting around town — can be enhanced.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean unveiled the rejuvenation plans on Saturday (April 29), which are part of the Housing and Development Board’s (HDB) Remaking Our Heartland (ROH) scheme.

Other highlights of the new plans, which aim to take advantage of the town’s proximity to nature, include more sand play areas at Pasir Ris beach, upgraded facilities at the adjacent park, and some 2,000 new public housing units sited next to the park. The housing project will be built in the coming years, said the HDB.

The walkways along Pasir Ris Drive 1 and Drive 3 will be transformed into nature ways — totaling 8.2km — with thematic landscaping and new “pocket parks” that serve as community spaces or resting points. Specific trees and shrubs — befitting of a “coastal” or a “riverine” theme, for instance — will be planted to facilitate the movement of fauna, like birds and butterflies, between the green spaces.

Two existing rivers, Sungei Api Api and Sungei Tampines, will be enhanced through new facilities and landscaping along their watercourses.

The Pasir Ris Town Park next to Sungei Tampines will also undergo a makeover, and will welcome the town’s first hawker centre by the end of this year.

The park will also feature a new playground, more outdoor seating and a multi-generational fitness area.

Four existing neighbourhood centres, including Pasir Ris West Plaza, Elias Mall, Loyang Point and the centre at Neighbourhood 4, will be upgraded with a raft of facilities, including more play spaces and new seating areas.

The existing Community Mall — a 5km thoroughfare that links HDB precincts to key community facilities — will be enhanced with more spaces set aside for residents to gather, such as community cafes, gardens and reading corners. The

HDB will be gathering feedback from residents on possible programmes along this walking and cycling pathway.

Closer to the heart of town, the Pasir Ris Town Centre will be given a facelift into a new mixed-use commercial and residential development. The 3.6 ha development will be integrated with a new bus interchange, that will incorporate a dedicated pick-up and drop-off area for full-time national servicemen undergoing military training in Pulau Tekong.

The history of Pasir Ris — which first appeared on an 1844 map as Passier Ries, a low-lying area with kampungs and plantation estates — will also be showcased through a heritage garden which will be built next to the town plaza.

These proposals are expected to benefit about 110,600 residents in Pasir Ris.

Residents can share their feedback at an exhibition at the Pasir Ris Town Centre, which runs till May 14.

The ROH initiative is aimed at transforming HDB estates into distinctive and endearing homes for Singaporeans, and was announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in 2007.

Along with Woodlands and Toa Payoh, Pasir Ris was earmarked for rejuvenation in 2015. The earlier estates identified were Punggol, Dawson and Yishun in 2007, and East Coast, Hougang and Jurong Lake in 2011.