Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong (Hougang): Two years ago, I filed a cut with MND on the safe use of park connectors. I said that, depending on locations, the park connectors can be busy places and well used by many people for recreational purposes, as well as for commuters getting to or from nearby MRT stations or bus stops.
I highlighted my concern about safety of park connectors, particularly the uncertainty regarding the appropriate use of lanes provided on park connectors.
Two years on, there are a few changes in some PCN. In the PCN near my home, there is a change to the lane markings. They are now marked in red. The narrow lane has a pictorial sign showing “no e-scooter”. The wider lane has a pictorial sign showing a bicycle. Occasionally, there is a sign on a post asking people to keep to their lanes with the pictorial showing two lanes side by side, one for cycling and one for walking. However, in other PCN, there are only pictorial indicators for cyclists and people on foot without any line drawn, or worse still, no separation, no indication at all.
Like what I have said two years ago, many people still walk on both lanes and from both directions, and cyclists and PMD users are often left wading through the traffic on both lanes frequently unsafely, especially during peak periods. Many cyclists are still using the lane for walking and many people on foot who are using the wider lane often do not keep left, including many people walking their dogs or pushing a stroller, forcing each other to swerve around them, including forcing cyclists onto the narrow lane.
Two years on, I feel that not much has changed. In the interest of safety, I am in support of having separate dedicated lanes for those on foot, for bicycles and PMD. If we want to mix them, they have to try much harder to ensure safe and orderly use by different users.
Once the extended cycling network is up, we may see the return of the e-scooters to our PCN in greater numbers. Their return will only exacerbate the present situation with the ill-disciplined and poorly policed use of the PCN.
I would like to ask the Minister again to increase both the public education and enforcement efforts by both NParks as well as LTA officers for the safe use of our PCN.
Ministry of National Development
4 March 2021
Office of the Leader of the Opposition 