More road signs, signals stationed in school zones under LTA pilot project

SINGAPORE — The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has installed new road safety measures at 10 primary schools, as part of a pilot initiative to enhance road safety in school zones.

The pilot comes after the Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety Committee, helmed by Parliamentary Secretary (Health and Transport) Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, reviewed the School Zone scheme in November 2013.

The safety measures include the “40km/h When Lights Flash” sign — a three-tiered sign comprising a “Children Ahead, School Zone” sign, a “40km/h” speed-limit sign, and a pair of amber light-emitting diode (LED) lights. The LED lights will flash during school peak hours, when motorists would be required to slow down to 40km per hour.

The schools may also decide to turn on the lights beyond peak hours where necessary. When the lights are not in operation, motorists may revert to the original speed limit for that road, but should continue to exercise caution when driving in the school zone, the LTA said.

Among the other measures are “LOOK” road markings painted at each end of zebra crossings that remind pedestrians to watch out for traffic before crossing, as well as centre dividers that provide physical separation from traffic and create the effect of narrowing the lane width, which also aids in calming the traffic.

The primary schools involved in the pilot include Canberra Primary, Ngee Ann Primary and Gan Eng Seng Primary.

Associate Professor Faishal, who co-launched a “40km/h When Lights Flash” sign today (Jan 28) near Canberra Primary School with Member of Parliament for Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency Dr Lim Wee Kiak, said the safety measures will be progressively rolled out to 200 Enhanced School Zones – which include most primary schools – from the second quarter of this year, with work expected to be completed by 2018.

“These Enhanced School Zones (are where) there is a heavy vehicular and pedestrian-motorist... engagement.

“We want to prioritise these schools first, because at the end of the day, we want to make sure that the environment near these schools is ... very safe for the users,” he said.