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mr funny
15-02-11, 16:27
http://www.straitstimes.com/Singapore/Story/STIStory_634965.html

Feb 15, 2011

In a pickle over jams at Dunearn Road

Traffic slows to a crawl as cars queue to drop off, pick up schoolkids

By Jennani Durai & Leow Si Wan


http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20110214/ST_IMAGES_JDJAM15.jpg
Cars lining up along Dunearn Road before turning into Hillcrest Road, where the entrance of Raffles Girls' Primary is. Another junction - between Dunearn Road and Barker Road - sees a similar problem as parents wait to pick their children up from schools there. -- ST PHOTO: NURIA LING

RESIDENTS in Dunearn Road and motorists will be familiar with the twice-daily traffic snarls there on school days.

The cause: Parents who turn up in cars to drop off or pick up their children who attend any of the brand-name schools along the 4km stretch between the junction of Dunearn Road with Hillcrest Road and the junction with Barker Road.

Add to this mix the ongoing works to build the Downtown MRT Line, which will thread through this prime housing district by 2015.

The result: Three lanes of traffic being squeezed into one lane between 7am and 7.30am and between noon and 2pm.

In a letter published in The Straits Times yesterday, Dunearn Road resident Sylvia Tan observed that waiting parents park along double yellow lines and even double-park.

The 56-year-old living in Shelford estate added: "Residents in nearby estates - namely Watten, Shelford, Goldhill, Chancery - need good driving skills and patience to manoeuvre around cars parked illegally to get in and out of their homes."

The retiree said she has taken to rearranging her life around the gridlock hours. "I try to avoid returning home at that time, and there's never anyone trying to direct traffic."

Engineer Z. C. Hoong, 30, who often drives through the area, said: "I think it may have to do with the demographic of students in these schools. Many of the parents have cars and want to pick their children up."

The bad news for the area's long-suffering residents and motorists is that the problem will remain as long as parents continue waiting for their children along busy stretches.

It is not as if the schools along the stretch - Raffles Girls' Primary, Singapore Chinese Girls', Anglo-Chinese Primary and Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road) - have been sitting on their hands over this problem.

Anglo-Chinese Primary's principal Richard Lim said the school works with the Traffic Police and the Land Transport Authority (LTA), and has held feedback sessions where residents air their views and suggest improvements.

The school has also staggered its start times with its affiliate, ACS (Barker Road), and taken into account the earlier start time of Singapore Chinese Girls' School (SCGS) as well.

SCGS said it sends notes to parents "emphasising safety in and around the school".

Associate Professor Gopinath Menon of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Nanyang Technological University said the problem is not one of road design.

"If parents were to just drop or pick up their child and leave immediately, there would be no problem. It is the waiting for their children that causes a queue of cars and the congestion," he said. He added that similar congestion occurs in school zones in Marine Parade, for example.

Urban congestion specialist Michael Li of the Nanyang Business School suggested that more traffic lights be installed and that the LTA keep a close eye on the daily traffic.

Although the Ministry of Education (MOE) has provided designated pick-up and alighting points within school compounds since 2001, it would seem that in the Dunearn Road area, these are not enough for the droves of parents.

Meanwhile, the MOE does "traffic-impact assessments" for schools undergoing upgrading works and works with the LTA to implement traffic-flow improvements.

Some parents have found their own ways of beating the jam. Some let their children alight on the other side of the road and get them to walk across.

Teacher L. L. Kwan, 42, gets to ACS (Barker Road) early to pick up her son, aged 13. "My only problem is that there are times when I have to wait 10 to 15 minutes to get out of the carpark because the road is blocked by the other cars, but I think it's still a reasonable amount of time," she said.

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proud owner
15-02-11, 16:36
http://www.straitstimes.com/Singapore/Story/STIStory_634965.html

Feb 15, 2011

In a pickle over jams at Dunearn Road

Traffic slows to a crawl as cars queue to drop off, pick up schoolkids

By Jennani Durai & Leow Si Wan


http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20110214/ST_IMAGES_JDJAM15.jpg
Cars lining up along Dunearn Road before turning into Hillcrest Road, where the entrance of Raffles Girls' Primary is. Another junction - between Dunearn Road and Barker Road - sees a similar problem as parents wait to pick their children up from schools there. -- ST PHOTO: NURIA LING

RESIDENTS in Dunearn Road and motorists will be familiar with the twice-daily traffic snarls there on school days.

The cause: Parents who turn up in cars to drop off or pick up their children who attend any of the brand-name schools along the 4km stretch between the junction of Dunearn Road with Hillcrest Road and the junction with Barker Road.

Add to this mix the ongoing works to build the Downtown MRT Line, which will thread through this prime housing district by 2015.

The result: Three lanes of traffic being squeezed into one lane between 7am and 7.30am and between noon and 2pm.

In a letter published in The Straits Times yesterday, Dunearn Road resident Sylvia Tan observed that waiting parents park along double yellow lines and even double-park.

The 56-year-old living in Shelford estate added: "Residents in nearby estates - namely Watten, Shelford, Goldhill, Chancery - need good driving skills and patience to manoeuvre around cars parked illegally to get in and out of their homes."

The retiree said she has taken to rearranging her life around the gridlock hours. "I try to avoid returning home at that time, and there's never anyone trying to direct traffic."

Engineer Z. C. Hoong, 30, who often drives through the area, said: "I think it may have to do with the demographic of students in these schools. Many of the parents have cars and want to pick their children up."

The bad news for the area's long-suffering residents and motorists is that the problem will remain as long as parents continue waiting for their children along busy stretches.

It is not as if the schools along the stretch - Raffles Girls' Primary, Singapore Chinese Girls', Anglo-Chinese Primary and Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road) - have been sitting on their hands over this problem.

Anglo-Chinese Primary's principal Richard Lim said the school works with the Traffic Police and the Land Transport Authority (LTA), and has held feedback sessions where residents air their views and suggest improvements.

The school has also staggered its start times with its affiliate, ACS (Barker Road), and taken into account the earlier start time of Singapore Chinese Girls' School (SCGS) as well.

SCGS said it sends notes to parents "emphasising safety in and around the school".

Associate Professor Gopinath Menon of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Nanyang Technological University said the problem is not one of road design.

"If parents were to just drop or pick up their child and leave immediately, there would be no problem. It is the waiting for their children that causes a queue of cars and the congestion," he said. He added that similar congestion occurs in school zones in Marine Parade, for example.

Urban congestion specialist Michael Li of the Nanyang Business School suggested that more traffic lights be installed and that the LTA keep a close eye on the daily traffic.

Although the Ministry of Education (MOE) has provided designated pick-up and alighting points within school compounds since 2001, it would seem that in the Dunearn Road area, these are not enough for the droves of parents.

Meanwhile, the MOE does "traffic-impact assessments" for schools undergoing upgrading works and works with the LTA to implement traffic-flow improvements.

Some parents have found their own ways of beating the jam. Some let their children alight on the other side of the road and get them to walk across.

Teacher L. L. Kwan, 42, gets to ACS (Barker Road) early to pick up her son, aged 13. "My only problem is that there are times when I have to wait 10 to 15 minutes to get out of the carpark because the road is blocked by the other cars, but I think it's still a reasonable amount of time," she said.

[email protected]

[email protected]





just becos alot of these culprits are the RICH people ... the traffic police are never there ... double parking .. occupying buslane .. even bus have to change lane to make way for these inconsiderate people ..

hyenergix
15-02-11, 19:48
You will get the jam even in the late afternoon. After that stretch, traffic is smooth all the way to Newton circle. The drivers are not really parking, they are just moving very slowly. So the traffic police cannot book the parents also. Everyone driving along that stretch is at fault contributing to the jam, just that the parents are more at fault.