Raffles Girls' Primary

[verykiasu2010]

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Feb 17, 2011
Relocate school to ease traffic woes
MS SYLVIA Tan’s letter (‘Illegal parking causing traffic headache’; Monday) is timely, especially with the realignment of Dunearn Road for the current construction works.

Around 7am, 1.30pm and 6.30pm on each school day, motorists should take note of the massive slowdown between Turf Club Road and Watten Drive due to cars turning into Hillcrest Road to drop off or pick pupils from Raffles Girls’ Primary School (RGPS).

Hillcrest Road is a one-lane two-way road that becomes one-way (inwards from Dunearn Road) from 12.15pm to 1.15pm and 5.45pm to 6.45pm each school day. At these times, the line of cars parked and waiting for RGPS pupils can stretch from RGPS along Hillcrest Road to the first lane of Dunearn Road.

Cars wanting to turn into Hillcrest Road have to do so from the middle lane of Dunearn Road. However, even this is not always possible as cars are often parked and waiting in both lanes of Hillcrest Road. Vehicles behind these cars have to brake abruptly at times.

It is a motorist’s nightmare and an accident waiting to happen.

When the problem is raised with RGPS or the Traffic Police, the situation improves for a few days. However, the slowdowns, traffic congestion and inconsiderations return when the Traffic Police are not there.

I dread to think of the traffic condition when RGPS becomes a single-session school and the pupils arrive and leave at the same time.

For the safety of its pupils and the motorists using Dunearn Road and Hillcrest Road, RGPS should consider relocating to a bigger campus with ample parking space.

Monica Khoo (Ms)

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Feb 17, 2011
Inconsiderate parents to blame for congestion
MOST parents who pick their children from school cannot afford the time spent on public transport, and it is not about pampering the children (‘Illegal parking causing traffic headache’ by Ms Sylvia Tan; Monday).

Traffic jams happen when parents park their cars on the roads regardless of the traffic conditions. This happens near most schools. Parents should move their cars while queueing, and if their children are not at the pick-up point when they reach the place, they will just have to move on.

There are parents who park at the drop-off point at the United Square multistorey carparks around 4.30pm. This causes a traffic jam all the way to Newton Road.

Tang Lishan (Ms)

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Feb 17, 2011
Three ways to unclog congestion
I APPEAL to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to ease the situation at Dunearn Road (‘In a pickle over jams at Dunearn Road’; Tuesday). I live at Watten Estate and have been living in this area for more than six years. I, too, ferry my children to schools around Dunearn Road.

The traffic condition was exacerbated by the recent MRT construction. A large number of strata-titled units have also been built in that area. Each household likely owns at least one vehicle, with the same roads serving both existing and new residents.

Why did the land authorities allow such a rapid succession of strata-titled developments without first looking at the impact of increased density in an already crowded neighbourhood? Did they also not work with LTA to see how the roads could be improved to support that increase in density? Has LTA done anything to improve traffic flow?

In the last two years, the situation has been really bad. It takes me less than 10 minutes to drop off my child at school but 30 minutes to try to get home after that.

There are some steps which the LTA can take to improve the flow:

- Build additional entry/exit points. Entry and exit points could be built in the area spanning Eng Neo Avenue and Shelford Road. With more exit/entry points, traffic gets dispersed and there will be fewer cars on the main road using the same point.

- Allow more cars to U-turn. The U-turn bridge over the canal just after Namly Avenue has to be made a one-way access. Allow U-turning for both lanes for vehicles heading westwards and turning eastwards - that is from Bukit Timah to Dunearn - to ease the bottleneck there. Traffic light timings there can also be fine-tuned.

- Install more traffic lights and/or yellow boxes. There is no yellow box outside of Watten Estate Road, thus residents cannot exit onto the main road as there is a three-lane queue that is filtering out onto Adam Road.

Oon Foong Yoke (Madam)

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Feb 17, 2011
Resident’s suggestions to LTA
TRAFFIC jams on Dunearn Road before Hillcrest Road occurs twice each school day during Raffles Girls’ Primary School’s dismissal times (‘In a pickle over jams at Dunearn Road’; Tuesday).

There are also traffic jams from Watten Estate to Adam Road every morning during school days, which are caused by heavy traffic turning from Adam Road into Bukit Timah Road.

I have written to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on many occasions since 2006. Some solutions are to:

- Build parking spaces along the road from RGPS to National Junior College to clear traffic waiting along Dunearn Road.

- Draw turning pockets for traffic waiting to turn from Adam Road into Bukit Timah Road. More vehicles will then be able to turn right into Bukit Timah Road at each change of traffic lights.

When pressed for replies, LTA said:

- It is not cost-effective to construct parking spaces as the space will allow only a few parking spaces.

- If a turning pocket is provided where there is a traffic light, it will cause a safety hazard to the motorist waiting at this turning pocket as the oncoming traffic that has the right of way will clash with the waiting motorist.

I pointed out that the first reply was not true as I had made measurements which showed that there would be adequate parking spaces to clear traffic waiting along Dunearn Road.

The second point was also incorrect because Bukit Timah Road is a one-way road.

I requested the LTA official to meet me on site so I could show him that LTA’s contention is wrong but my request was ignored.

Tan Peng Boon

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Feb 17, 2011
A special let-off for waiting along Dunearn Road?
IS THE long queue of cars parked along Dunearn Road daily flouting any traffic laws? (‘In a pickle over jams at Dunearn Road’; Tuesday)

I was summoned for waiting in a parked vehicle on a road with double yellow lines. Despite repeated appeals, the Traffic Police said that ‘any vehicle that is waiting or parked along double yellow lines has broken traffic rules and the law’.

I find this stance contradictory as my car was then parked along Margaret Drive, a sleepy hollow of a neighbourhood that sees little traffic at any time of the day. This is in contrast to the situation at Dunearn Road, an extremely busy thoroughfare.

Why are the Traffic Police so ready to turn a blind eye to cars that are parked and waiting for up to 20 minutes along Dunearn Road? Those motorists are doing the same thing I did (waiting for a passenger) but for certain, I was in no way causing inconvenience to other motorists or contributing to a snaking jam.

Are these drivers somehow more privileged and exempt from the law?

Lynn Chua (Ms)

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Feb 17, 2011
Station Traffic Police along Dunearn Road
TRAFFIC police can be stationed at the affected areas along Dunearn Road (‘In a pickle over jams at Dunearn Road’; Tuesday) between 7am and 7.30am, and between noon and 2pm, to issue fines to drivers who park illegally.

Measures such as feedback sessions and staggering the start times for schools have not prevented parents from parking their cars illegally to pick and drop off their children.

Yeo Kim Boon

[verykiasu2010]

with so many unhappy residents, so many complaint letters in one day, RGPS parents please take note : some drastic actions is going to be taken

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Feb 17, 2011
Ferrying my child isn’t pampering, it’s bonding - and priceless
I AM one of the motorists who ferry my children to and from school (‘Illegal parking causing traffic headache’ by Ms Sylvia Tan; Monday).

I drive my child to and from school as she would have to wake up far earlier and spend a considerably longer time travelling to school if she were to take a school bus.

During our journey home from school, she lets me know how her day in school has been. I share her joy when she’s had a good day in school and offer advice when she faces challenges. These moments are priceless.

I disagree that parents pamper their children by driving them to and from school and I am surprised that parents like me should be faulted for undertaking the responsibility of taking their children to school safely.

There are other ways to toughen up our children. Compromising on their safety is not one of them.

I hope the authorities and other motorists would understand the predicament of parents and the school management, and appreciate that they are trying their best to manage the situation, given the space constraints.

Traffic conditions may be challenging at times but a little patience goes a long way.

Should one demand that convenience and ease of driving should take priority over the safety and well-being of our children?

Michelle Tan (Ms)

[ctct61t]

verykiasu2010:

with so many unhappy residents, so many complaint letters in one day, RGPS parents please take note : some drastic actions is going to be taken

What actions should that be? by school or by Land authority? moving school to other place earlier? very curcious about it.

I went out from home at 6:25, sent my DD to school by taking bus, we catch the 1st 961 today, arrived to school at 7:05.

[Herbie]

I think the school should also think of ways to improve the flow of traffic within the school especially at the drop off area/canteen.


Some kids take their own sweet time to alight from the car… and hence jam up the incoming traffic.

So the school should consider to designate another official drop off point.