ZEBRA CROSSINGS AT ANSON AND TANJONG PAGAR ROADS

Mr P. Govindaswamy asked the Minister of State (Prime Minister's Department) if he will consider the establishment of zebra crossings (i) at Anson Road in front of the Gan Eng Seng School and (ii) at Tanjong Pagar Road between Wallich Street and Tapah Street.

Tuan Haji Yaacob Bin Mohamed: (In Malay): Mr Speaker, Sir, Anson Road is 58 feet wide and the volume of traffic is fairly constant and heavy. However, there are sufficient breaks in the flow of traffic to allow pedestrians to cross the road safely, provided care and caution is taken.

Observation by the Traffic Police has disclosed that the number of pedestrians crossing Anson Road in front of Gan Eng Seng School is negligible. The majority of persons crossing Anson Road in front of Gan Eng Seng School are the students of this school. A zebra crossing is not recommended at this place. If the intention of requesting the zebra crossing is for the students, then a school crossing patrolman is more justified than a zebra crossing. Observation will be kept at this place when the school re-opens in January, and if it is found necessary to have a school crossing patrolman at this place, recommendations will a be submitted.

To answer the second part of the question. Tanjong Pagar Road is 41 feet wide and there are several side roads. This road caters for two-way traffic, and parking is permitted on both sides of the road. In addition, hawkers have pitched their stalls on both sides of Tanjong Pagar Road from Wallich Street to Gopeng Street. This leaves only sufficient room for one-lane traffic in either direction. Vehicles will have to crawl along this portion of Tanjong Pagar Road. There are sufficient breaks in the flow of traffic to allow pedestrians to cross safely. There is no particular spot along Tanjong Pagar Road where pedestrians concentrate to cross the road. Therefore, if a zebra crossing is provided along Tanjong Pagar Road, it will not be of much practical use, since the pedestrians will not take the trouble to walk all the way to the crossing to cross the road, as they can cross the the road safely from wherever they approach Tanjong Pagar Road. In view of this, a zebra crossing is not recommended.