Yet another oil spill has affected traffic, this time on busy Jalan Boon Lay, a major arterial road in the west, during the evening peak period yesterday.

The stretch affected was just before the Ayer Rajah Expressway slip road, in the direction of Jurong Pier Road.

According to the police, the spill was caused by a Malaysian-registered lorry, and it has affected two left lanes for up to 50m.

The remaining two lanes were still passable, but traffic was backed up.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said it would resurface the affected stretch.

This is the latest of oil spill incidents affecting traffic flow here in recent months.

Just last Friday, a spill resulting from an accident between a car and lorry held up traffic in the East Coast Expressway. Two lanes on the expressway were closed.

And on April 28, there was an oil spill stretching about 300m along Tampines Avenue 9, in the direction of Tampines Street 44.

In March, Senior Minister of State for Transport Ng Chee Meng said in Parliament that the LTA was considering introducing deterrent penalties on vehicle owners who cause spills.

There were 1,625 oil spills on Singapore's roads last year, and seven roads had to be resurfaced as a result. In 2014, there were 1,597 spills, and two roads needed to be resurfaced.

There were four major spills between Jan 29 and Feb 16, affecting traffic on the Bukit Timah Expressway, Pan-Island Expressway, Kampong Bahru Road and Lornie Road for hours each.

All four required resurfacing, causing road closures and, in the case of the BKE oil spill, traffic congestion of up to 12 hours.

Christopher Tan