Complex Braddell-Upper Serangoon-Bartley road junction to be simplified
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The reconfigured junction should be easier to navigate when work is completed by the middle of 2023.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
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SINGAPORE - A busy complex traffic junction intersecting Braddell, Upper Serangoon and Bartley roads will be simplified in a project spanning nearly a year.
Work started in August, and when it is completed by the middle of 2023, the reconfigured junction should be easier to navigate.
Currently, motorists who are new to the intersection may sometimes get confused by the various turning lanes and mini junctions within the main junction, each with its own set of traffic lights.
There had been a number of serious accidents since the junction was completed more than a decade ago.
In the reconfiguration, two traffic islands, five small yellow boxes and six traffic lights will be removed. In their place will be one big yellow box, with just one set of traffic lights per direction. All existing right turns will be retained.
In response to queries from The Straits Times, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said the project “will simplify the current junction configuration into a normal cross junction”.
When completed, “motorists can expect more seamless traffic flows through the cross junction, while pedestrians and cyclists can look forward to a wider footpath along the Upper Serangoon Road stretch”.
Currently, most motorists have to pass two sets of traffic lights per direction before clearing the junction.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Currently, the cycling path is hardly passable to two cyclists riding side by side.
The LTA said it regularly monitors and enhances traffic junctions “to cater to changing traffic patterns”.
“Such enhancements can involve lane reconfigurations, traffic light resequencing, as well as physical alterations to the junction’s layout,” said a spokesman.
There have been a number of accidents at the junction. The most recent one was in November 2021,
The junction was also listed as one of several accident-prone areas in Singapore.
Motor insurer Direct Asia described the junction as “a black spot area”. Black spots are places where there is a higher-than-normal concentration of accidents.
A motorist who uses the junction regularly said he finds it “logical and easy to use”. Medical doctor Colin Low, 34, however, said that the redesign will make it clearer to road users, especially those who are new to the area.
“Actually, I find the design of the Braddell Road-CTE junction to be more dangerous,” he said, referring to two sequential sets of lights which motorists at the Braddell Road-Central Expressway interchange have to negotiate.
“It’s fine if traffic is moving smoothly. But if there is congestion, you can find yourself in the middle of the junction, with cars coming towards you when the lights turn in their favour.”
Transport and safety expert Gopinath Menon, a retired LTA planner, said it is not ideal to have two sets of traffic lights sited close together, as “drivers may see one and not the other”.
He noted that the redesign will result in “a very large junction”.
As such, he said traffic light timings must be adjusted to allow vehicles to clear the junction before “the appearance of green lights for opposing traffic streams”.
Marine Parade GRC MP Seah Kian Peng said the redesign “follows from feedback that we had given over the years”.
“It will enhance road safety for motorists and pedestrians alike,” he added, pointing out that there had been accidents and near misses at the junction in the past.
“So, the existing junction will be converted to a cross junction; footpaths will also be widened and safety barriers will be installed along the footpath.”
