Surveys to identify and upgrade barrier-free zones around MRT
and LRT stations are expected to be completed by the third quarter
of this year.
Officers from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) have been marking
out problem spots like uneven ground and steep slopes around the
existing 110 stations.
And priority has been given to older estates with a higher
population of the elderly and the disabled.
Tong Cheong Yaw, Manager, Architecture, LTA, said: "One of the main
features are the ramps. We're looking at making sure that the roads
are flat enough, comfortable enough for the wheelchair, the mothers
with prams and for the elderly to walk."
That includes levelling steep slopes to a gentler gradient of only
4.76 degrees from the ground or to a minimum of 1:12 which means,
for every 12cm of distance, there must only be 1cm of
elevation.
LTA said priority would be given to mature housing estates like
Redhill and Queenstown.
Peter Lim, Chairman, Queenstown Lengkok Bahru Zone, ResidentsÂ’
Committee, said: "A lot of old folks are using wheelchairs. With
ramps and barrier-free access, they can really move around."
And that is the feedback grassroots leaders at Redhill have been
getting from their residents.
More than one-third of them are senior citizens and the lack of
ramps and barrier-free access prevents them from getting around
independently.
Barrier-free zones are defined as areas within a 400-metre radius
of all MRT and LRT stations.
The S$60 million barrier-free upgrading works are expected to be
completed over the next five years.