SINGAPORE: Customised senior-friendly road safety features will be installed in 10 more locations islandwide, said the Land Transport Authority on Wednesday (Dec 14). The areas, known as Silver Zones, will be located in estates including Jurong West, Whampoa, Woodlands and Tampines.
By 2019, there will be 25 such Silver Zones, including nine that have been installed to date, as well as six more that will be completed by this year.
The locations for another 25 Silver Zones will be identified progressively, said LTA in a media statement. It added that by 2023, 50 residential estates across the island will feature safer roads for all users, especially the more vulnerable senior pedestrians.
(Table: LTA)
The new Silver Zone plans were announced a day after LTA won an international award for the scheme.
On Tuesday, LTA received the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award from Britain’s Prince Michael of Kent at an event held in London. The award recognises outstanding achievements in enhancing road safety for different road users.
Said Prince Michael of the Silver Zone scheme: “The judges unanimously agreed that this initiative is a thoroughly practical approach to a growing problem of elderly pedestrians, and certainly replicable elsewhere in the world.”
Dr Chin Kian Keong, LTA’s Group Director for Transportation and Road Operations, said that LTA was “heartened” by the strong support for the Silver Zone scheme from the local community in Singapore.
“It is a testament to LTA’s continuous efforts in enhancing road safety for our people, and improving the overall liveability of our city. We will continue building on the positive feedback, and expand our road safety initiatives to benefit more road users.”
Road safety features at Silver Zones include reduced speed limits, extended green man timings at traffic lights, narrower roads to get cars to slow down, as well as two-stage crossings where elderly pedestrians can stop and rest before continuing to cross the road.
LTA said that its traffic studies show that motorists driving in Silver Zones slowed down by as much as 15 per cent. “The results have been encouraging,” it said in its statement.
