SINGAPORE – Motorists should have an easier time navigating the busy and complex Braddell-Upper Serangoon-Bartley road junction now that it has been reconfigured for use since 5.30am on Saturday.
It previously had various turning lanes and mini junctions within the main junction, each with its own set of traffic lights, which could confuse motorists new to the intersection.
Work began last August to remove two traffic islands, five small yellow boxes and six traffic lights, and replace them with one big yellow box, with just one set of traffic lights in each direction.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Marine Parade GRC MP Seah Kian Peng said motorists will now have to look out for only one set of traffic lights while travelling in each direction.
“I encourage motorists to continue to drive carefully and observe the traffic signal indications when navigating the modified junction,” he added.
There have been a number of accidents at the junction, which motor insurer Direct Asia described as “a black spot area”. Black spots are places where there is a higher-than-normal concentration of accidents.
In January 2023, a double-decker bus collided with a taxi at the junction. The 58-year-old male bus driver and the 67-year-old male taxi driver were taken to hospital.
In November 2021, two people, including an 11-year-old boy, were taken to hospital after a Toyota multi-purpose vehicle and a Mercedes-Benz hatchback crashed. The Toyota flipped and landed on its roof.
A retiree, who wanted to be known only as Mr Low, 69, said he was involved in an accident involving three vehicles at the junction in 2022.
Recalling the incident, he said that the many sets of traffic lights at the junction may have confused him, causing him to hit another vehicle.
Observing the changes to the junction on Saturday, Mr Low noted that traffic flow has improved – a plus since “accidents can cost lives”.
He felt that the road markings could be made clearer to guide motorists into the right lanes. He pointed out that the current markings are faded.
Mr Koh Yong Sheng, 27, supervisor of Hong Chang Eating House, which faces the junction, said he has witnessed around 30 accidents there.
“I don’t know whether there will be accidents in the future because (the junction) is new,” he said, noting that drivers will have to get used to the new design.
On Saturday, road marshals were deployed to facilitate traffic flow. Some vehicles were “stranded” in the middle of the large yellow box when the traffic light turned against them before they could make it through.
This led to some impatient drivers sounding their horns when their progress was impeded by these vehicles.
Gym administrator Muhammad Asyraf, 22, predicted that a lot of people will continue to sound their horns regardless of changes at the junction.
Despite such hiccups on the first day of operation, Mr Lim Chee Wee, 62, the owner of Wee Heng Auto Air-Con and Accessories, gave a thumbs up to the reconfiguration, saying familiarity with how to use the road junction will come in time, and greatly boost safety.
