Guidelines for Covered Pedestrian Overhead Bridges Spanning Across Expressways

Mr David Ong asked the Minister for Transport (a) what are the guidelines for erecting covered pedestrian overhead bridges; and (b) whether the Ministry will review these guidelines for existing pedestrian overhead bridges that span across major expressways connecting residential estates to make it more convenient for residents.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Transport (Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim) (for the Minister for Transport): Mdm Speaker, 84% of pedestrian overhead bridges are covered. Over time, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) plans to provide cover for the rest, including those that span across expressways. Those that have higher pedestrian usage and are connected to a transport node or facility will be accorded higher priority.

Mr David Ong (Jurong): Madam, a couple of supplementary questions. Working towards an enhanced pedestrian walking experience, would the Ministry consider incorporating standard shelters across all its overhead bridges connecting housing precincts other than meeting the criteria of connecting transport nodes, schools or even public institutions? Because I have two such bridges across the PIE in Bukit Batok which many residents have made appeals for. So, I hope that the Ministry can consider that.

The second question: since we are on the issue of overhead bridges, can the Ministry also update us on the status of LTA's efforts in making our overhead bridges more accessible to our elderly, wheel-chair bound commuters, cyclists, and parents with prams?

Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Madam, I would like to thank the Member for the questions. Essentially, as I had mentioned earlier, we would cover all the overhead bridges and we would give priority to those which have higher pedestrian flow as well as those connected to the Walk2Ride programme or within 400 m of a rail station. With regard to the standard, I would like to clarify what is meant by the "standard".

Secondly, it is about the facilities for the elderly. In fact, we have started a long while ago to provide such facilities and we are continuing our efforts to do so, as part of these plans for an ageing society. It is not only done by LTA or MOT; it is an inter-ministerial effort. And I would like to assure the Member that it is something that is a high priority in our agenda as part of our process of providing for an inclusive society. Maybe the Member could share with me about the "standard" that he mentioned.

Mdm Speaker: Mr Ong.

Mr David Ong: Madam, allow me to clarify. The "standard" which I referred to is to provide shorter pedestrian overhead bridges (POBs). That is, for any POBs that connect an housing estate to another housing estate. I have two POBs in Bukit Batok that are not covered yet. I also know that one of the criteria is to have high pedestrian traffic. But for some bridges, they do not have high traffic but they do give tremendous convenience to our residents who want to connect from one estate to another estate.

Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Again, I would like to reiterate that we will cover all over time. With regard to his covered linkways, maybe if he could share the specific details with me, I am sure our staff at LTA would work closely with him with regard to the POBs in question. So, I look forward to receiving details from him.