A section of Orchard Road will be turned into a no-car zone and
become a walker's paradise.
The 660m stretch from shopping centres
ION Orchard to Ngee Ann City, or between Scotts/Paterson and
Bideford junctions, will be closed to all vehicles on the
first Saturday of every month from
October.
As part of a six-month
trial, shoppers can roam the street without
worrying about honking drivers, who will be shut off from the
stretch between 6pm and 11pm.
The Orchard Road Business
Association (Orba) hopes that such a move will draw more shoppers
to the shopping belt and revitalise the area, which is facing stiff
competition from new shopping haunts like Marina Bay as well as
suburban malls.
Shutting sections of road
happens routinely on certain weekends in most major shopping
cities, including London and Tokyo. And in Beijing, the Wang Fu
Jing shopping street is permanently closed to traffic.
This also happens every year
in Orchard Road, for big events such as the Christmas celebrations
on Dec 25 and the annual Fashion Steps Out show.
For the new Pedestrian Night,
organisers have been roped in to turn the street into a hive of
activity.
For the inaugural street event
on Oct 4, for instance, there will be a mass tennis
clinic.
Dubbed Tennis Pops [email protected]
Road, revellers can play street tennis, watch live exhibition
matches and music performances. The event is held together with the
Women's Tennis Association finals, which will be staged here next
month.
Other events like a mass yoga
session and a Christmas carnival have been planned till the end of
the year.
The once-a-month street events
are partially funded by the Singapore Tourism Board
andOrba.
Mrs May Sng, Orba's chairman,
said Orchard Road "will no longer just be a shopping belt but a
vibrant lifestyle destination with an array of exciting activities
for all to enjoy". -
