Today 11 Mar 2006
The tale of two bus stops
Loh Chee Kong
[email protected]
POTONG Pasir residents are somewhat used to getting double of
everything with their incumbent Member of Parliament Chiam See
Tong and his People's Action Party challenger, Mr Sitoh Yih Pin,
both serving their needs.
.
But two bus stops within 3m of each other in front of their block
is probably not what the residents of Block 120, Potong Pasir
Avenue 1 would have expected.
.
Last December, the Potong Pasir Town Council built a drop-off bay
to cater to the 5,000 students of St Andrew's Village.
.
Mr Chiam had hoped that when bus service number 142 was extended
into the vicinity, the drop-off bay that his Town Council had spent
$60,000 on could be used as a public bus stop.
.
But the Land Transport Authority (LTA) rejected Mr Chiam's
proposal. It built a new bus stop, running parallel to the drop-off
bay, this month.
.
Now, Mr Chiam wants the LTA to tear down the bus stop and convert
the drop-off bay into a bus stop, citing his concern for the school
children's safety. He said: "The two lanes are narrow. The buses
would create a huge blind spot. Moreover, many vehicles come out of
the car park, located before the bus bay, and zoom into these
lanes. This would be so dangerous to the children who dash across
the road."
.
An LTA spokesman told Today that the drop-off point was also used
by shopowners to load and unload goods and said that, given the
current usage of the drop-off point, "introducing a bus service ...
will cause operational disruptions, inconvenience and
confusion".
.
The LTA also said that the bay is too narrow and that it was
cheaper to build a new bus stop than to widen the existing bay as
"extensive works" have to be carried out. The LTA spokesman further
said that the road and traffic conditions made it unlikely for cars
to travel quickly in that area, and thus it was unlikely the bus
stop would pose a safety threat to students.
.
"We have also assured him that we will monitor the situation once
the bus shelter is in operation to see what improvements need be
made," the spokesman added.
.
On Wednesday, Mr Chiam had raised his concerns in Parliament. In
response, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Manpower
Hawazi Daipi said that the Ministry of Education takes students'
safety very seriously and he would forward Mr Chiam's concern to
the LTA again.
.
Mr Sekerchristopher, a 35-year-old resident, noted: "It's a nice
idea actually to have both the bus stop and the drop-off bay. But
it would be quite dangerous for the students. It's better to
situate the bus stop at where the drop-off bay is."
Loh Chee Kong
[email protected]
