Oil spill slows traffic to a crawl at Paterson Road
Commuters and drivers at Paterson Road were affected by the traffic congestion, as the road was too slippery to be used. Photo: Geneieve Teo
SINGAPORE — Traffic in and out of Singapore’s busiest shopping district slowed to a crawl yesterday, after an early morning oil spill near ION Orchard shopping mall — believed to have been caused by a passing truck — led to a 13-hour closure of Paterson Road, as the affected stretch was too slippery for use.
TODAY understands that the incident was not caused by a traffic accident. The driver of the truck has been identified by the police and is currently helping with investigations.
The closure, from 3.48am to 4.55pm yesterday, led to traffic jams in the area. Motorists faced heavy traffic build-up near Newton Circus and Tanglin Road towards Orchard Road during the day.
To facilitate traffic flow, part of Paterson Road towards Newton Road was converted to a two-way road at noon, to allow traffic from Scotts Road to continue towards Paterson Hill.
The police said they were notified of the incident at around 1.30am and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was subsequently called in to handle the situation. Two SCDF fire engines with water jets and bio-solvents were despatched.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) took over the road recovery work and contractors were sent to clean up the oil spill.
When TODAY visited the scene at about 1pm, the recovery work was in progress, with wardens and police officers busy directing traffic.
LTA officials and the contractors, wearing yellow vests, could be seen scurrying around the affected stretch of road with water jets to wash off the oil before the road could be repaved, and tar was trucked in so that the road could be resurfaced.
Officers — one wearing a vest marked Traffic Forensic — were also seen collecting small pieces of road and packing them into a plastic bag to be taken away.
Three lanes of Paterson Road were reopened around 3.50pm.
Drivers were not the only ones affected by the traffic congestion. Housewife Ravinda Kaur, 65, was among many commuters who ended up waiting a long time for a bus.
Madam Kaur, who was at the bus stop in front of Far East Plaza, told TODAY that she had been waiting for half an hour and had no idea what was causing traffic congestion in the area.
At 5.06pm, the LTA posted on its Facebook page that all five lanes at Paterson Road had been reopened after road repair work had been completed.
Last November, an oil spill from a tanker that was involved in an accident resulted in part of Seletar Expressway being shut down for more than 12 hours, so that the road could be resurfaced and made safe for use.
