We thank Mr Michael Lum Yan Meng for his feedback (Government should rethink North-South Corridor; Feb 20).
The North-South Corridor (NSC) is necessary, given the growing number of residents living in the northern and north-eastern parts of Singapore and their daily commute.
The NSC was originally conceived as an expressway, but has been redesigned as Singapore's first integrated transport corridor, featuring dedicated bus lanes and cycling trunk routes.
Commuters will benefit from faster bus journeys and express bus services. Cyclists will also benefit from the dedicated cycling trunk routes into the city, while pedestrians will enjoy wide and shaded walking paths along the corridor.
The Government recognises the importance of protecting and preserving our heritage and history. We thus conducted extensive studies from 2016, including consulting conservation specialists, engineering consultants and heritage groups, to see how best to minimise impact on the Ellison Building, which will have one of its nine units affected.
While it was not possible to completely avoid the building in the construction of the NSC, the revised plan will retain the most prominent parts of the affected unit like its rooftop cupola and most of its facade. After the NSC tunnelling works are completed, the affected part will be reconstructed and historic elements from the building reinstated.
We have done our best to minimise the impact on Ellison Building and believe this approach strikes a balance between developing new infrastructure that benefits a large number of Singaporeans and conserving our built heritage.
Yap Cheng Chwee
Group Director, North-South Corridor
Land Transport Authority
Chou Mei (Ms)
Group Director,
Conservation and Urban Design
Urban Redevelopment Authority