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SINGAPORE: Shoppers along Orchard Road will find the pedestrian crossing between ION Orchard and Wheelock Place closed from Tuesday.
The crossing at Paterson Road is popular with pedestrians, but this resulted in traffic queues on Orchard Road as vehicles tried to turn right.
A member of the public said: "It is not safe for the pedestrians to cross here because sometimes they will dash across the road even though the light has already changed red."
Another said: "For us drivers, it is difficult, because the traffic here is very heavy and (it is also) dangerous for the pedestrians."
To ease traffic congestion, the pedestrian crossing will be closed. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said vehicles turning to and from Paterson Road and Orchard Road can also look forward to an additional turning time of at least 45 seconds.
Shoppers will have to use an underground link to cross Paterson Road. But for wheelchair users, this will be a challenge.
At ION Orchard, Singapore's newest shopping mall, a lift will bring wheelchair users down to the mall's basement, which is linked to Wheelock Place. But at Wheelock Place, the only way to street level is by an escalator or lift which are in the basement carpark.
Manager of the rehabilitation centre, Society for the Physically Disabled, Tay Hwee Lin, said: "I think it is not very safe. It is accessible in the sense that there is the lift for us to get out to the other levels of Wheelock Place, but there are incoming cars and beams blocking (our view in the carpark). So it can be hazardous if you are not careful."
The LTA said an alternative route between Wheelock Place and ION Orchard is another crossing some 150 metres away.
But the ramp at that crossing is too steep for wheelchair users to wheel themselves up, and it is also a long detour for parents with strollers and small children.
From Tuesday, the pedestrian crossing between Wheelock Place and Shaw House will be the only barrier-free access at the busy Orchard-Paterson-Scotts roads junction.
Only the ION-Paterson underground link has direct lift access to the underground crossing, while the other underground passes have stairs and escalators to bring users up to street level.
So those with strollers or in wheelchairs will have to rely on the goodwill of others to make Singapore's premier shopping belt accessible to all.
- CNA/yt
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