Slip road, bridge among plans to link Bidadari and Bartley

A new slip road and a pedestrian overhead bridge will be constructed as part of a junction that will link Bartley Road to the main road of Bidadari town.

When completed, the junction will connect Bidadari to Bartley Road and Serangoon Avenue 1 via Bidadari Park Drive.

The new slip road will be added to the junction in Bartley Road near Maris Stella High School to allow motorists travelling from Braddell Road to make a direct left turn into Serangoon Avenue 1, said the Housing Board on Aug 15 in response to queries by The Straits Times.

Currently, motorists using this stretch have to wait for the traffic signal at the junction before turning left into Serangoon Avenue 1.

An additional dedicated right-turn lane will be constructed to allow traffic coming from the direction of Bartley Road East – where Maris Stella High is situated – to turn directly into Serangoon Avenue 1, said HDB.

At present, there is a shared right turn and U-turn lane on this section of Bartley Road, so the dedicated right-turn lane will facilitate smoother traffic flow.

The new overhead bridge will be fitted with lifts and built near Bartley Christian Church to improve connectivity to the Bidadari estate, HDB said.

HDB said that one of the signalised pedestrian crossings will be moved from the east to the west of the new junction – farther away from Maris Stella High – as vehicles are not allowed to make a U-turn there, enhancing the safety of pedestrians crossing Bartley Road.

HDB will also construct larger traffic islands and enlarge existing ones at the junction.

On July 27, HDB held a dialogue with residents of the nearby Gambir estate to inform them of these upgrades and address some of their concerns.

The roadworks for the upcoming junction will be completed by the end of 2024 or in early 2025, more than two years after the originally slated completion date in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The project had previously come to a standstill for almost a year in 2023 after HDB said Bartley Road had to be raised because Bidadari Park Drive was more than 1m higher.

Works restarted in the first quarter of 2024 after HDB revised the junction’s design.

Residents had mixed responses to the suggested improvements, as many told ST that they could not understand the impact of the additional slip lanes before the changes kick in, while some welcomed the other upgrades.

Woodleigh Hillside resident Andy Kho, 35, is worried that traffic congestion in Bartley Road would worsen when the junction is completed, even with the additional slip lanes.

Noting that traffic lights may take a longer time to turn green to accommodate vehicles entering and exiting Bidadari Park Drive, the data analyst said he now waits two to five minutes at the junction to make a U-turn to Bartley Road East to get to his workplace in Ubi.

Ms Luann Teo, who lives in a condominium in How Sun Drive, said traffic in the area from 5pm to 7.30pm is already “quite bad”, with a private-hire car ride from Toa Payoh back home taking at least 30 minutes – more than double the usual drive of 10 to 15 minutes at off-peak hours.

The housewife in her 40s said that most private-hire car drivers prefer to take a longer detour via Upper Paya Lebar Road as it is “too troublesome” to drive into Bartley Road, so she is not sure if the additional slip lanes would improve the situation.

Mr Duncan Tan, 50, who lives at Bartley Residences, said the right-turning slip lanes from the east of Bartley Road to Serangoon Avenue 1 could be made longer so vehicles – including U-turning vehicles – can filter into these lanes earlier as traffic is always heavy along that stretch.

Woodleigh Hillside resident Al, who wanted to be known only by his first name, agreed with the relocation of the pedestrian crossing as he noted that cars making a U-turn at the east of the junction could hit pedestrians on the island between Serangoon Avenue 1 and the east of Bartley Road if they turn less sharply than expected.

The 34-year-old business development manager said it might be safer to set up bollards, or short vertical posts, at that island.

To keep dust from coming into his flat, Al said he has had to keep the air-conditioning running in his flat since works started.

HDB addressed some of the concerns raised by residents, including about possible traffic congestion.

It said that it had carried out a traffic impact assessment during the planning phase, which showed that traffic in Serangoon Avenue 1 will not be significantly heavier.

Agencies will continue to monitor the traffic situation after the junction’s completion, added HDB.