They are part of S$700m plan to make transport nodes more accessible, elderly-friendly and conducive for commuters
TODAY, 11 Sep 2013
Work to make overhead bridges more accessible to pedestrians who are less mobile will begin next year, with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announcing yesterday that it has called tenders to retrofit 17 existing pedestrian overhead bridges and allow for the installation of lifts.
The areas with these bridges include Woodlands, Boon Lay, Serangoon, Potong Pasir, Tampines and North Bridge Road.
Selected bridges have to be located within 200m of MRT stations, bus interchanges and integrated transport hubs, within 100m of bus hubs and LRT stations, and within 100m of health institutions, welfare homes, homes for the aged and schools for special needs children.
In addition, they have to be in locations where it is technically not feasible to provide a new “at-grade” pedestrian crossing and there are no barrier-free alternatives nearby.
They also need to have high levels of usage and the retrofitting work has to be cost-effective and technically feasible.
The 17 bridges are the first of the 40 bridges to be retrofitted with lifts announced by Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew in January as part of a S$700-million plan to make transport nodes more accessible, elderly-friendly and conducive for commuters.
The bridges will be ready by 2016, with the rest to follow.
Late last month, the LTA called two tenders for the construction of sheltered walkways at 59 MRT stations, while two more will be called for the remaining MRT and LRT stations in the last three months of this year.
Also in the works are noise barriers along selected busy road viaducts and MRT lines to reduce noise pollution for residents nearby.
The LTA said it has conducted site surveys as part of preparatory work to ensure that it is technically feasible to install the lifts at the selected bridges.
It will announce the locations of the remaining overhead bridges by early next year.
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