Developers will be required to incorporate the needs of pedestrians and cyclists in their plans, announced the Ministry of National Development (MND) on Monday (April 11) as it unveiled further plans to move Singapore towards a “car-lite, people-friendly” city.
Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) will require developers to plan for pedestrian and cyclist access, and review locations of bicycle parking facilities as well as vehicular access points to minimise conflict with pedestrians and cyclists.
“This is especially critical for developments with high footfall such as schools, shopping malls, office buildings and business parks,” said Mr Wong. “ Through these requirements, we will ensure that our built environment is more conducive for pedestrians and cyclists.”
MORE DEDICATED PATHS, ROUTES
He also announced that MND will also create more dedicated paths within all HDB estates for walking, jogging, cycling or the use of other personal mobility devices.
“Newer housing areas such as Bidadari, Punggol and Tampines North are already designed with such dedicated cycling and walking paths,” said Mr Wong. “For existing towns, we will progressively improve the infrastructure through our upgrading programmes.”
He pointed to Bedok Town as an example, where an approximately 14km network will be completed next year to allow better connectivity to MRT stations, major employment areas, parks, schools and neighbourhood centres.
Additionally, MND is planning more seamless cycling routes that connect residential areas to the city centre. This will enable people to get to their workplaces without having to drive, said Mr Wong, who revealed that MND has started looked at towns in various regions within a 30-minute cycling distance to the city.
“These routes are not new. They are largely already in place today through our Park Connectors, but if you jog or cycle along one of them, you will realise they are not fully seamless and there are some gaps along the way,” he said, citing the Bishan-to-City route along Kallang River, where cyclists and joggers have to traverse several overhead bridges, underpasses and across an expressway. “We intend to plug these gaps, so that the routes can be seamless and better connect our HDB towns to the city centre.”
There will also be more walking and cycling paths within the city itself, to connect to major office developments, added Mr Wong.
EXPANDING CAR-FREE ZONES
The Minister noted that while infrastructure is important, Singapore must also embrace a car-lite mindset – whether through car-sharing schemes, electric vehicles, or the raising of carpark charges.
For now, MND will continue to “pedestrianise” vehicular roads where possible, he said, to create more car-free zones be it on weekends or on a permanent basis.
Said Mr Wong: “We’ve held the Car-Free Sunday SG at the Civic District and the CBD area, and there has been a tremendous response. We’re also expanding car-free zones to streets all over Singapore. Currently, 18 streets are closed for pedestrians to use on a regular basis, such as during weekends. Recently, additional roads have been closed for car-free events – Jalan Pisang, Keong Siak, Armenian Street.”
“Beyond the city, we’re also keen to have more pedestrianised and car-free zones in our HDB estates,” he added.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 11 Apr 2016