'Friendly Streets' with widened footpaths, barrier-free pedestrian crossings to be piloted in 5 towns

SINGAPORE — To make commuting safer and more people-friendly for residents, particularly seniors, persons with disabilities and families with young children, a new “Friendly Streets” initiative which features widened footpaths and coloured road surfaces will be piloted in five neighbourhoods, Senior Minister of State for Transport Amy Khor said on Friday (March 3). 

The chosen neighbourhoods are: Ang Mo Kio, Bukit Batok West, Tampines, Toa Payoh and West Coast. 

The initiative will build on the Land Transport Authority's (LTA) existing efforts, including the Silver and School Zones, and add more features to prioritise road space for activity mobility, public transport and community uses, said Ms Khor during a debate on the budget for the Ministry of Transport (MOT).  

Silver Zones, for example, have features such as S-shaped roads to slow down motorists and extended timings for the green man signal at pedestrian crossings to cater to the elderly. 

"As you enter a Friendly Streets zone, you will be greeted by specially designed signages and on-road markings. This encourages all to be more aware and look out for others.

"The streetscapes will also be filled with more greenery, and we will consider upgrading bus stops where possible. As you move down the street, you will see more people-friendly features, such as pedestrian crossings and cycling paths designed to be used by all," said Ms Khor. 

Such streets will be in high-activity areas and near key amenities in neighbourhoods, she said. 

In a press release on Friday, LTA elaborated that Friendly Streets will be demarcated with signs, three-dimensional road markings and coloured road surfaces. 

Features include widened footpaths, barrier-free crossings with priority for pedestrians as well as road markings to facilitate calmer vehicular traffic. 

It added that the initiative will be specially tailored to the needs of each community.

LTA aims to roll out the pilots by 2025 with engagements with local stakeholders at these locations starting this year.  

“We will use these pilots to study how we can fine-tune the initiative before expanding it to other towns,” it said. 

NEW ROAD REPURPOSING PROJECTS 

In her speech on Friday, Ms Khor also said that the ministry has found opportunities to convert some existing road space into footpaths, cycling paths or bus lanes to make it even safer for the community and improve connectivity. 

It has identified 60 such potential road repurposing projects.

Two such projects will start in the second half of this year. 

In the first project, LTA will pedestrianise 80m of the road between Choa Chu Kang Avenue 1 and the loading access point of Sunshine Place, a shopping mall located in Chua Chu Kang. 

This is to give residents accessibility to the amenities in Sunshine Place and the future Jurong Region Line MRT Station.

The second project at Yung Sheng Road in Jurong West will involve pedestrianising an 18m-long stretch to improve safety for pedestrians walking between Taman Jurong Shopping Centre and Taman Jurong Market & Food Centre. 

The authority is also proposing a covered linkway and improved barrier-free access between the two areas. 

Providing updates on other road repurposing projects in a press release, LTA said that the previously announced pedestrianisation of Woodlands Ring Road will be completed by the end of March. 

This includes the installation of covered linkways, a new bus stop and widened footpaths between Woodlands Drive 71 and Drive 63, next to Kampung Admiralty. 

Cycling path works for the wider Woodlands town cycling network will also be completed progressively from 2024, said LTA. 

Over at Tiong Bahru, LTA said that it has finished the civil works to pedestrianise Eng Hoon Street and will start planting and installing street furniture. 

It added that works to widen the footpath along Seng Poh Road and Lim Liak Street are also in progress. 

In Tanjong Pagar, accessibility around the MRT station has been improved, said LTA in a press release. 

For instance, there is now a barrier-free crossing at the intersection of Peck Seah and Wallich Street, as well as a widened footpath along Yan Kit Road.