More Walking and Cycling Connections for a Car-lite Singapore

- Phase 1 of Ang Mo Kio walking and cycling town completed

- Development works for Round Island Route to begin by end of year  

It will be more convenient, comfortable and safer to walk, cycle, and use public transport, as the Government expands walking and cycling infrastructure for a Car-lite Singapore.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was at the launch ceremony this morning with Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong and Senior Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo, and announced the completion of the first phase of works to transform Ang Mo Kio into Singapore’s first walking and cycling town. At the same time, the National Parks Board (NParks) will be starting development works for the 150km Park Connector Network Round Island Route to link up parks, park connectors and communities by the end of the year.  

Ang Mo Kio Walking and Cycling Town

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has completed a 4km-long cycling path that loops around Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, 3, and 8. This will allow residents to walk and cycle to key amenities such as Ang Mo Kio MRT station, Ang Mo Kio Swimming Complex and AMK Hub.

Jointly designed and developed by LTA and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), the Ang Mo Kio walking and cycling town incorporates a number of pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly features. Ang Mo Kio is the first town in Singapore to feature dedicated cycling paths that are red in colour so that they can be easily distinguished from footpaths. Bus stops are designated pedestrian priority zones, and the cycling paths go behind the bus stops, and have rumble strips to remind cyclists to slow down. Road crossings have new safety features and traffic calming measures to reduce vehicle speeds and alert motorists of pedestrians and cyclists. Easy-to-read map boards have also been placed along the paths to help residents navigate the cycling network. Many of these features were co-created with Ang Mo Kio residents, after a series of community exhibitions and focus group discussions were conducted.

Another innovation is the unused space under the MRT viaduct along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8, which has been transformed into a linear walking and cycling park, lined with shrubs and butterfly-attracting plants, and a large terrarium which showcases a microcosm of a rainforest environment, with plants that are adapted for growth under low light conditions. This is the first time a large terrarium is displayed outdoors, and there are plans to have two more terrariums along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8 Linear Park. To further enhance the experience of the path users, a series of artworks has been installed on three MRT columns underneath the viaduct. There is also a bicycle self-service station for cyclists to carry out basic maintenance on their bikes. Users can also expect a play and fitness area, and community gardening plots when the linear park is fully completed in 2019.

Phase 2 of the Ang Mo Kio walking and cycling town will feature an additional 16km-long cycling path network, including a 1.8km-long walking and cycling corridor along the MRT viaduct between Yio Chu Kang MRT station and Ang Mo Kio MRT station. It will also feature an elevated walking and cycling path that will allow residents to walk and cycle more safely and conveniently to Ang Mo Kio MRT station. The network will also link up to the upcoming Mayflower and Lentor MRT stations on the Thomson-East Coast Line as well as the cycling trunk route along North-South Corridor, which offers a direct cycling connection from Ang Mo Kio to the city.

Works for Phase 2 will commence shortly and are expected to be completed in 2019. When completed, the 20km-long cycling path network will be the longest in any residential town and all homes in the Ang Mo Kio HDB town will be within a 5-minute walk to the nearest cycling path. LTA will continue to work with the community and other agencies to replicate these features in other towns, so that more Singaporeans will be encouraged to take up active modes of transport like walking and cycling. 

Involving the Community

In land scarce Singapore, making our towns more liveable has to be a whole-of-community effort.  To promote a culture of safe and gracious sharing of paths in Ang Mo Kio, LTA engaged the local grassroots to form volunteer groups under the Active Mobility Patrol scheme so that they can help to spread key messages on safe riding habits.

To add a touch of creativity to the environment, students from My First Skool created active mobility-themed art pieces, such as a bicycle sculpture from recycled materials. A former resident in Ang Mo Kio, Ms Zoe Lin, contributed a series of art murals along the walking and cycling route near Teck Ghee Community Centre, as part of URA’s ‘Our Favourite Place’ programme to enliven public spaces across Singapore.

NParks also worked with the Institute of Technical Education College Central on a student project to pilot an augmented reality mobile application to showcase two plants found in the terrarium. The students will also be leading regular tours along the linear park in the future. 

Round Island Route

NParks will be starting development works for the “Coastal Adventure Corridor” of the 150km Round Island Route (RIR) by the end of the year. The 60km Coastal Adventure Corridor is the first of three corridors for the RIR, which will connect 45km of existing park connectors. It will be flanked by Rower’s Bay at Lower Seletar Reservoir Park and Gardens by the Bay East. This corridor will serve the highly populated towns of Sengkang, Punggol, Pasir Ris and East Coast. When completed, users will be able to cycle along the coasts of Punggol, Pasir Ris, Changi and East Coast Park to get to Gardens by the Bay from Lower Seletar Reservoir Park.

To provide more space for people to walk and cycle, the Round Island Route will have greater width in most areas (6 metres wide) compared to the current park connectors (4 metres wide). More cycling bridges will be built so that cyclists need not dismount. It will also have amenities such as shelters, toilets, lookout points, bicycle parking lots and self-help bike repair facilities. Nature lovers can look forward to special features such as a man-made island with wetland plantings for otters to build their holts at Sengkang Riverside Park.   

Future Plans

Beyond these plans, the Government will also look at providing more inter-town cycling routes to connect cyclists directly from their homes to the city. These connections will also provide cyclists with a seamless connection from the east to the west via the city centre, allowing people to cycle from Geylang and Marine Parade to Queenstown and Bukit Merah. Currently, plans are in place to construct the Queenstown-City and Geylang-City routes. We have also identified some towns that are within a 30-minute cycling distance from the city such as Bishan, Hougang and Bukit Timah, and will be plugging gaps along the existing cycling routes to the city, to make the riding experience smoother and more seamless.

In the longer term, as part of the North-South Corridor (NSC), LTA will provide a cycling corridor that connects estates along the entire corridor directly to the city. In particular, towns in the north such as Sembawang, Yishun and Ang Mo Kio will be linked to the dedicated cycling paths integrated with the NSC to provide a direct route for people to cycle from their homes to the city for work or play.