Request for Pedestrian Overhead Bridge along Upper Serangoon Road

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Transport whether LTA will consider giving priority to the inclusion of the pedestrian overhead bridge located along Upper Serangoon Road next to Blocks 362 and 363 Hougang Avenue 5 into its lift installation programme given the larger concentration of seniors living in the vicinity.

Mr Speaker, for the retrofitting of lifts, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) prioritises pedestrian overhead bridges (POBs) at locations which benefit large numbers of seniors and commuters with mobility challenges, and which are near public transport nodes and healthcare institutions.

The POB highlighted by the Member will be accorded due priority in LTA’s future reviews based on the above criteria.

I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the reply. Is the Senior Parliamentary Secretary able to advise on what is the likely time range that these lifts will be installed on this overhead bridge? Because there have been calls, appeals to LTA, as LTA would know very well, for a number of years since the previous Member of Parliament of Hougang had been in office.

As LTA would have noted by now, there is a large number of seniors as well as young parents and they need the use of this overhead bridge to access the nearby town centre including the MRT station, the bus interchange and the nearby Hougang Polyclinic as well. So, we would be grateful if the Senior Parliamentary Secretary can give an expected time range for my residents.

Sir, LTA conducts the retrofitting of POBs in phases. We are now in Phase 4 and we aim to complete Phase 4 by 2028. So, currently we are reviewing the POBs among the approximately 600 POBs in Singapore to see how we can prioritise the various POBs.

The POB in the Member's constituency as I said will be accorded due priority. It would be accorded higher priority than other POBs with a lower number of senior residents living nearby. We also note that there are clinics and also the Hougang Central Market that would be served by this POB. That would be given due priority in our assessment. I seek the Member's and his residents' patience.