Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap (Aljunied): Sir, I have observed there are schools in the HDB estate where they are covered pathway that extended from the school gate to the nearby bus-stop. In locations where the nearest bus-stop is located opposite the school, which requires road crossing, the shelter is extended across the pedestrian crossing.
However, there are schools which are not provided with such facilities. The Primary school located in my Kaki Bukit constituency is one of them. I have previously written to LTA requesting to construct shelter for existing pathway and pedestrian crossing but to no avail.
I would like to seek clarification from the Ministry on what are the considerations in determining whether to or not to construct shelter for walkways and pedestrian crossing in school zones.
Apart from this clarification, I would like to touch on one of the LTA initiatives, Silver Zone. My constituency Kaki Bukit is one of the earliest beneficiaries of Silver Zone. Under this initiative, LTA has introduced numerous features to enhance road safety for pedestrians, especially our senior citizens as well as for road users.
Among these features are rest points and roundabouts. The former is to allow road crossing in two stages and the latter is to smoothen traffic flow and traffic conflict points. I would like to ask LTA to consider adding construction of shelter for pathways and pedestrian crossing to the existing list of the Silver Zone features. These feature should be constructed at locations where LTA deem necessary and feasible.
Sir, covered pathways and pedestrian crossing will provide better protection to our seniors against bad weather. This will further enhance safety as well as comfort of our elderly Singaporeans.
Ministry of Transport
5 March 2021
Office of the Leader of the Opposition 