Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song (Aljunied): Thank you, Speaker. I thank the Senior Minister of State. Does LTA have any plans to build more underground walkways, for example, from Tampines West MRT to Tampines Green Gem estate in my ward, so that pedestrians have a safer alternative to crossing busy junctions, like the junction where this horrific accident happened?
Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan: I thank the Member for his supplementary question. First, let me say that for the junction at Tampines Avenues 1 and 4, which is the location of the accident, actually, there has been no feedback in relation to safety issues at that junction. Between 2019 and 2023, there were also no accidents with serious injuries or fatalities at that junction. As I have said, we have designed such junctions in accordance with international standards.
We have also reviewed the junction after the accident and we do not think that there is a need to further enhance or implement measures to enhance safety at that junction. But having said that, we will also await TP’s investigation, for the results of the investigation, and will review again if measures have to be implemented to enhance road safety. This is the similar approach that we take for all locations where serious accidents have occurred.
Having said that, we always take into account the data we have, whether it is traffic accident reports from TP, data of incidents, whether it is injury-related or non-injury-related incidents on our expressways from the LTA monitoring team, as well as even data on road infrastructure which are frequently damaged or hit, which will give us some insights to the measures that we could put in place before any accidents happen. And, of course, feedback from the local community, road users, the public, online and offline. We do data analytics and then identify locations where there are higher risks, to implement measures to enhance road safety.
With regard to the Member’s specific question about underground walkways, it is the same with pedestrian overhead bridges (POBs). We need to look at whether it is relevant and useful before we can implement them. And if at-grade signalised traffic crossings are possible, then that is something we will go for because it is really a lot more effective and efficient. But in certain areas where you cannot do at-grade signalised traffic crossings, say, because of the terrain or developments in the area, then we will do underground paths or POBs, for instance.
Ministry of Transport
7 May 2024
https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/#/sprs3topic?reportid=oral-answer-3589
Office of the Leader of the Opposition 