Converting road space

Seven years into Singapore’s official car-lite drive, and the authorities have initiated the Republic’s largest push yet to convert road space to cycling paths. Better late than never!

More than 20 roads in the northeast of Singapore and the eastern parts of the island will be assessed to determine if portions of them can be reclaimed for cycling paths, in what is likely to be the first such study on this scale.

They include stretches along heavily utilised roads such as Aljunied Road, Braddell Road, Upper Serangoon Road, Upper Paya Lebar Road and MacPherson Road.

Should all plans come to fruition, experts said the additional paths - part of a national plan to boost Singapore’s cycling path network to 1,300km by 2030 from 460km now - will significantly improve convenience and safety for cyclists.

They told The Straits Times that the traffic study to be done is the largest they have heard of so far in relation to converting road space to cycling paths. It is one of various initiatives in Singapore’s push to become a car-lite nation.

According to tender documents seen by ST, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) is seeking engineering consultancy services to design cycling paths and related infrastructure in the eastern sector.

Plans for the construction of the cycling paths are spread out in three phases till 2030.

The potential conversion of road space would contribute to the expansion of networks in several areas over the next decade.

Estates that could significantly benefit include Geylang, which is slated to have an additional 29.5km of cycling paths, Sengkang (28.3km), Hougang (28.2km) and Serangoon (27.6km).

Industrial areas, such as those in Pasir Ris (6.6km), Tampines (3.6km) and Bishan (1.6km), could also get cycling paths should feasibility studies come through.

The proposed new paths should connect to the existing path properly, LTA said. Where necessary, existing roads, junctions and facilities should be realigned, reconfigured or reconstructed to do so.

The LTA said the studies on identified roads will analyse the traffic impact that the cycling path proposals would have on surrounding roads. Tender applicants should propose localised road improvement schemes to meet traffic demands where necessary, it added.

Associate Professor Walter Theseira, who heads the Master of Urban Transport Management programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, said the studies address the issue of lack of space to build cycling paths along some key routes.

On why major roads are being looked at, he said: “If you want to implement a good high-speed commuter cycling network, there is often going to be no choice other than to align the network with the existing arterial road network. The arterial road network is there for a reason - it happens to be the path that is most convenient for a larger number of commuters.”

Mr Gopinath Menon, a transport engineering consultant, noted that cyclists are allowed to use normal road lanes, but many refrain from doing so because they feel unsafe.

Drawing parallels to the decision to introduce dedicated bus lanes, he said that while it had some impact on traffic, there was a strong case to give priority to buses as they are “efficient movers of people”.

“Similarly, bicycles are an eco-friendly mode of transport that the Government wants to encourage.”

But he added that it is unlikely that all the roads being studied will be partially reclaimed for cycling paths, due to traffic considerations...

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LTA will also study the feasibility of removing parking spaces along four roads in the Joo Seng-Tai Seng area: Joo Seng Road, MacTaggart Road, Kim Chuan Road, and Tai Seng Avenue.

The current roadside parking offered at Kim Chuan Road:

Credit: Google Maps.

And at Tai Seng Avenue:

Credit: Google Maps.

Up to 1977, roadside parking was the norm along Singapore’s roads, but from that year, it was gradually phased out, to hand over valuable road space to moving traffic - my book Jalan Singapura covers that. Now, it’s long overdue that LTA phases out whatever’s left of roadside parking. It should be reserved for only the most remote or underused of roads.

A history of Dover Forest

Dover Forest has been in the news recently, because of the possibility of it being cleared for public housing.

I decided to go back to old maps and piece together its history, and see if there is anything more to it other than being a 33-hectare green lung in the southwest of the island.

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In the early 20th century, there was a large area bounded by Ulu Pandan Road and Holland Road to the north, Reformatory Road to the west, Ayer Rajah Road to the south, and Buona Vista Road to the east. The northern part was part of the Mukim of Ulu Pandan; the southern part was part of the Mukim of Pasir Panjang.

The present Dover Forest is a small fragment of this larger, nameless area, and its story should begin from here.

This was the area in 1923, outlined in light blue:

The hills were mostly covered by rubber plantations, while the more low-lying areas around rivers and streams were used for coconut plantations.

The area in 1953:

Reformatory Road had been renamed Clementi Road.

The rubber and coconut plantations had largely been replaced by “unclassified and mixed tree cultivation”, and grass and brush.

From 1932, the Keretapi Tanah Melayu railway track crossed the area. There was a railway station called Tanglin Halt just east of Buona Vista Road, but was largely disused by 1953.

The kampungs of Tua Kang Lye and Holland Village covered the north of the area. In the south, there was a British presence in the form of a military cemetery, and the black and white bungalows of Rochester Park, housing military officers.

The area in 1972:

The Sungei Ulu Pandan had been realigned, cutting across the area.

North of the river, the private housing estates of Mount Sinai and Holland Grove had joined Tua Kang Lye. South of the river, Dover Road had been laid down to connect Clementi Road and North Buona Vista Road. Because of the British presence in the area, Dover Road took its name after Dover, the town in southeast England.

Singapore Polytechnic had just opened a campus at the former Princess Mary Barracks.

The curvy stretch of Ayer Rajah Road between Clementi Road and North Buona Vista Road had been straightened.

The area in 1984:

Decades of abandoned cultivation in the area had gradually given way to secondary forest and bush, but large swathes were cleared for public housing estates such as Ghim Moh to the east, and Ayer Rajah to the south.

Commonwealth Avenue in neighbouring Queenstown New Town had been extended west to Clementi New Town; the new road was Commonwealth Avenue West, which cut the area in half.

Meanwhile, the Sungei Ulu Pandan had been straightened and canalised.

By now, the rough boundaries of what is presently the Dover Forest were in existence (marked in light blue). However, at the time, the forest might have been called Commonwealth Avenue West Forest, or just Commonwealth Forest, as it lay next to Commonwealth Avenue West; Dover MRT Station, which gave the forest its present name, would open only in 2001.

The area in 2000:

The last pockets of empty land around the Commonwealth Forest (marked in light blue) had filled up - Pine Grove and other condominium developments to the north, Singapore Polytechnic and Warren Golf Course (presently University Town) to the south, Buona Vista MRT Station to the southeast.

The East West MRT Line had been laid down along a good part of Commonwealth Avenue West; Dover MRT Station was nearing completion atop the tracks. Curiously, even though Dover Road was some distance away from the station, the latter took its name from the former.

In the south, Ayer Rajah Road had been upgraded to Ayer Rajah Expressway.

Formerly the Commonwealth Forest (my name), now the Dover Forest, today:

Base picture credit: Google Maps.

In the last 20 years, the forest bounded by the Sungei Ulu Pandan, Clementi Road, and Commonwealth Avenue West saw further retreat all around. To the west, the School of Science and Technology moved into a new campus in 2012. To the east, Ghim Moh Valley was first completed in 2013, then Ghim Moh Edge in 2017. And in the middle, a covered walkway was built to connect Dover MRT Station to Holland Grove.

Now, I think it’s more accurate to see the Dover Forest as two parts - Dover Forest West and Dover Forest East.

And thus concludes a short, 100-year history of Dover Forest - a story of abandoned agriculture, urban redevelopment, the laying down of transport channels, and a gradual but relentless encroachment on natural heritage.

What will be the forest’s eventual fate? We’ll find out very soon.

The Old Holland Plain

Yesterday, I explored the ring of three public roads and two closed roads that surround the vast, open field that I dub the Old Holland Plain. The plain lies to the south of Methodist Girls’ School and King Albert Park MRT Station.

The public roads are Old Holland Road to the north, Holland Link to the east, and Holland Plain to the south. The closed roads are Holland Road South and Holland Road West. Together, they surround a sprawling patch of quiet, open greenery a short walk from the busy Bukit Timah-Dunearn trunk road.

Base picture credit: Google Maps.

Old Holland Road was derived from Holland Road. I’ve written about the latter as a secondary trunk road in Jalan Singapura. Holland Road wasn’t named after the geographical region in the Netherlands; rather, it was named after a person, probably Sir Henry Holland (1825-1914), Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1887 to 1892.

Sir Henry Holland in 1906.

Back when anything west of Orchard Road was considered “the country”, Holland Road served the suburban, northwestern part of the Municipality of Singapore. After a realignment sometime between the 1870s and 1880s, Holland Road connected Napier Road and Bukit Timah Road, running northwest for much of the way, then northeast, for a total of four and a half miles.

Holland Road in 1954, shaded blue:

The area I explored was the northern section of Holland Road in 1954, close to Bukit Timah Road. The Chinese cemetery at the 7th Milestone of Holland Road was Fong Yun Thai Cemetery, a Hakka graveyard.

The northern section of Holland Road in 1975:

Smaller tracks branching off the road, such as Yoon Kim Road, Lorong Makam, and Lorong Panchar, had been named.

The same area in 1995:

Methodist Girls’ School had moved to the area from Mount Sophia. Fong Yun Thai Cemetery had been exhumed; the remains of its deceased had been moved to a columbarium built by the association which had managed the cemetery.

The aforementioned tracks of Yoon Kim Road and Lorong Makam had been expunged; the latter for Holland Lane.

The area in 2007:

A new road system was forming - Holland Road North, Holland Road West, Holland Road South (absorbing Holland Lane), and Holland Link to create a ring road connecting Holland Road to Blackmore Drive. The stretch of Holland Road east of Brizay Park to Bukit Timah Road had been renamed Old Holland Road.

And the area today:

Base picture credit: Google Maps.

The area remains largely undeveloped. Part of Holland Road has been expunged. Holland Road West and half of Holland Road South remain closed; the other half of Holland Road South is now Holland Plain. Holland Road North has been renamed and added to Old Holland Road; this means the western part of Old Holland Road today is ironically, not so “old” - it is about 20 odd years old.

I started my journey in the south, where Holland Road South, Holland Road, and Holland Plain met.

People parked their cars here to play with their drones. I wonder whether they knew this wide expanse was once a Hakka cemetery. I tried imagining a sea of graves before me.

Holland Road South, closed to motor traffic. One could walk in though. Joggers used it too.

I walked on Holland Road South, heading west.

As Holland Road South gave way to Holland Road West, the road narrowed significantly, partly because years of neglect had allowed trees and bush to reclaim part of the road. Observing how nature encroached upon an abandoned road was fascinating.

Most of Holland Road West was split vertically 1:2 - one-third was left for pedestrians, joggers, and cyclists, while two-thirds was fenced off; a peek past the fence reveals a dusty track connected to work sites.

Holland Road West meets Old Holland Road and Blackmore Drive here.

This part of Old Holland Road used to be Holland Road North - not a very “old” road.

Old Holland Plain, formerly Fong Yun Thai Cemetery.

Holland Link.

The Fong Yun Thai Association Columbarium lies along Holland Link. More about the columbarium in a future post!

Holland Plain, formerly Holland Road South, and before that, Holland Lane, and further before that, Lorong Makam.

According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s 2019 Master Plan, Old Holland Plain is slated for housing. Laurel Wood Avenue will also be extended to connect Holland Link and Holland Plain to Sixth Avenue:

Credit: Urban Redevelopment Authority.

Like many open patches of greenery in Singapore, we’ll have to enjoy this while it lasts.