Consulting with Senior Residents on Locations for Pedestrian Crossings

Ms Ng Ling Ling asked the Minister for Transport in view of the higher proportion of seniors involved in road traffic accidents (a) whether the Ministry can explain LTA’s planning norms for safe road crossing; (b) what are the criteria used to determine whether an overhead bridge with lifts or an underpass will be built despite their higher costs; and (c) whether LTA has or will adopt a design approach of co-creating with senior residents on where natural crossings need to be set up, especially in estates with more senior residents.

The safety of pedestrians is key when the Land Transport Authority (LTA) plans town infrastructure with the relevant agencies. Local roads with high pedestrian footfall are provided with signalised pedestrian crossings or zebra crossings as a default. In determining the locations of these crossings, LTA ensures that they are not so far apart as to inconvenience pedestrians and not so close that motorists do not have time to slow down and react.

For roads that are wider and have higher speed limits, grade-separated pedestrian crossings such as pedestrian overhead bridges or underpasses are provided. In particular, to provide barrier free crossings, LTA has retrofitted 77 pedestrian overhead bridges with lifts near places such as healthcare institutions which tend to serve seniors, with another 30 to be retrofitted with lifts over the next three years. Moving forward, all new pedestrian overhead bridges constructed by LTA will be barrier free.

Furthermore, LTA has implemented various initiatives for seniors in areas with high senior population or located near places frequented by them. For instance, to provide seniors with additional time to cross the road, LTA has implemented 1,008 Green Man + pedestrian crossings. LTA has also worked with the community including the seniors, to implement Silver Zones. So far, LTA has installed 26 Silver Zones and will be installing 24 more Silver Zones by 2025.

These Silver Zones are specially designed to enhance road safety for seniors, with reduced speed limits, narrower and meandering lanes, more prominent road markings, raised crossings and speed humps. Together, these measures make roads safer for crossing in those areas and have effectively reduced the accident rate among senior pedestrians by about 80%.

Beyond Silver Zones, where there is local community support, LTA is also repurposing roads, to allow for wider footpaths and free up more space for better accessibility by pedestrians. One recent example of this is the widening of footpaths along Havelock Road and the building of a ramp for easier barrier-free access.