Criteria for Classifying Roads as Private Roads and Their Conversion to Public Roads and Vice-versa

Mr K Karthikeyan asked the Minister for Transport (a) what are the criteria for classifying roads as private roads; and (b) what are the conditions for converting private roads to public roads and vice-versa.

Under the Street Works Act, a public street refers to any street where the general public has right of way and it is vested in the Government. All other streets are private streets.

Private streets can be converted to public streets upon request by the owner or otherwise, provided that the physical conditions of the road and its design meet the Land Transport Authority (LTA)’s requirements for public streets and the LTA assesses that conversion is beneficial for the general public.

The Street Works Act also provides for public streets to be converted to private streets. Such applications are typically made by private developers or property owners, for example, to amalgamate a public street with adjacent private land for redevelopment and are assessed by the LTA on a case-by-case basis.