Build future Tanjong Pagar waterfront with cycle tracks
Carrying out small additions and alterations (A&A) works to roads and paths can at best serve as a temporary measure to meet Singapore’s infrastructural needs.
Today, the use of electric bicycles and other electric two-wheelers, as well as skateboards and Rollerblades, is trending, marking the march of our times towards a more fun-filled lifestyle.
More creative designs for our roads, pedestrian walkways and underground and overhead passes would optimise our land use. Singapore should also look into intensifying the use of waterways as an added form of transport.
For example, the plan to build a waterfront city at Tanjong Pagar could come complete with cycle tracks, walkways and jetties for ferries and watercraft, together with bicycle facilities.
Linking the former Malayan railway station to the waterfront city would add another dimension to Tanjong Pagar. Trams could be introduced for use on the former railway-track land to bring commuters from Bukit Timah and Queenstown to the waterfront.
Similarly, watercraft and ferries could be a new feature of our revitalised city, serving commuters from the eastern and western coasts.
The waterfront city would then become a gateway to the Raffles Place city centre, and we could cycle, skateboard and even walk or jog to the city centre.
In the Netherlands, where I reside now, the roads cater for bicycles, pedestrians, cars, trams and buses. Bicycles play a major role for commuters here. Amsterdam’s canals also provide variety, from jobs to an exciting lifestyle, for its residents.
A well-planned fringe city such as the Tanjong Pagar waterfront can provide a new vibrancy to augment the existing financial hub. Indeed, Singapore can develop into an acclaimed international city and home for its residents.
