“Friendly Streets” Pilots in Five Neighbourhoods
and New Road Repurposing Projects in the West
To build a more sustainable and inclusive land transport system, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will continue to partner the local communities to create more pleasant and safer public spaces by enhancing the walking and cycling experience. LTA will be introducing a “Friendly Streets” initiative to create more inclusive and people-friendly commutes within residential neighbourhoods.
2. The initiative will be piloted in five neighbourhoods in Ang Mo Kio, Bukit Batok West, Tampines, Toa Payoh and West Coast. Friendly Streets will build on our existing efforts such as Silver Zones, School Zones, Transit Priority Corridors and road repurposing to make our neighbourhoods more inclusive and conducive for Walk Cycle Ride journeys, creating more gracious communities. Friendly Street projects may include one or more of these elements.
3. The initiative will target streets near key amenities and transport nodes with high pedestrian flows, and have the following features:
- widened footpaths,
- new barrier-free at-grade crossings with priority for pedestrians,
- calmer vehicular traffic through road markings and treatments to encourage gracious road behaviour
These measures will benefit residents including seniors, persons with disabilities and families with young children and bring about safer, more convenient and comfortable journeys to key amenities in their neighbourhoods. This is a continuation of our recent efforts to make our roads less vehicle-centric, and be inclusive to all modes of mobility.
4. Friendly Streets will be specially tailored to the needs of the local community. With more greenery and calmer traffic, we hope that the quality of local spaces will be improved for better community interactions. We will design the Friendly Streets in partnership with the community and target to realise the pilots by 2025. Ultimately, the success of such projects will depend on the strengths of the local “Kampung Spirit” in looking out for one another when using our streets and commuter facilities. LTA will use these pilots to study how we can fine-tune the initiative before expanding it to other towns.
New road repurposing projects in Choa Chu Kang and Taman Jurong
5. Road repurposing will be a core effort in our Friendly Street initiatives.
6. Building on the momentum from previous road repurposing efforts, we have identified two new pedestrianisation projects this year at Choa Chu Kang Terrace and Yung Sheng Road.
7. For Choa Chu Kang Terrace, LTA plans to pedestrianise a 80-metre-long stretch of the road (from Choa Chu Kang Avenue 1 to the loading/unloading access point of Sunshine Place) to give residents a safer and more comfortable walking experience. These will further improve the accessibility to the amenities in Sunshine Place and the future Jurong Region Line station in the vicinity.
8. At Yung Sheng Road, we also plan to pedestrianise an 18-metre-long stretch to improve safety for the large number of pedestrians walking between Taman Jurong Shopping Centre and Taman Jurong Market and Food Centre. As part of the works, LTA is also proposing to implement a covered linkway and improve barrier-free access to improve accessibility for pedestrians moving between the two developments.
9. With support from the stakeholders, we will start both projects from the second half of this year, after we have engaged the respective communities further to co-create ideas for the repurposed space.
Update on Other Road Repurposing Projects
10. LTA has embarked on several projects over the past two years. The previously announced pedestrianisation of Woodlands Ring Road (between Woodlands Drive 71 and Drive 63) next to Kampung Admiralty will be completed by the end of this month. This includes the installation of covered linkways, a new bus stop and widened footpaths along Woodlands Ring Road which have already brought greater convenience to the residents. When the works are completed, residents will be able to make their way around their neighbourhood centre more comfortably. Cycling path works will be completed in tandem with the wider Woodlands town cycling network to provide greater active mobility connectivity for residents. Works for the wider cycling network are targeted to complete progressively from 2024.
11. The road repurposing project at Tiong Bahru is targeted for completion by June this year. We have finished the civil works to permanently pedestrianise Eng Hoon Street and will follow with planting and installation of street furniture. The widened footpath and pedestrianised Eng Hoon Street are well utilised and the new drop off points have provided more convenience to visitors to Tiong Bahru Market. The additional loading and unloading bays are also welcomed by the hawkers. Additionally, works to widen the footpath along Seng Poh Road and Lim Liak Street are also in progress. Placemaking features from the community will be incorporated to enhance the local characteristics of Tiong Bahru when the project is completed.
12. The walking and cycling experience at Tanjong Pagar has also been enhanced by milestones such as the recent completion of new cycling paths in the area. Accessibility around Tanjong Pagar MRT station has been improved, with a barrier-free crossing at the intersection of Peck Seah and Wallich Street and a widened footpath along Yan Kit Road. The inter-agency work group comprising LTA, NParks, URA and stakeholders in the area will continue to identify suitable initiatives including road repurposing opportunities to enhance Walk Cycle Ride mobility. This includes further studies to widen footpaths along Tanjong Pagar Road for active mobility to enhance liveability for residents and stakeholders in the Tanjong Pagar area.
Annex A: Artist Impression of Friendly Streets in Ang Mo Kio
Annex B: Road repurposing works at Choa Chu Kang Terrace
Annex C: Road repurposing works at Yung Sheng Road
Annex D: Photos of works at Kampong Admiralty and Tiong Bahru
