SINGAPORE – You may want to leave your cars at home this week as the Formula 1 road closures begin, and 78 parking lots around the island temporarily close on Friday (Sep 16) for a series of community events.
The traffic mayhem will start on Wednesday (Sep 14) at 12.01am and end a week later on Sep 20 at 5.30am, with numerous road closures around the Marina Centre area.
Temporary road closures
During this period, certain roads like St Andrew’s Road, Stamford Road and Esplanade Drive will only be accessible to the public from 5.30am to 9am from Wed to Fri (Sep 14 – 16), and certain periods on Monday (Sep 19).
A single-lane road from Nicoll Highway and Temasek Boulevard will also be opened to the public on Sep 14 – 16 from 10am to 5pm and from 10pm to 6am, The Land Transport Authority said in an advisory.
During the F1 weekend, the road will only be accessible from midnight to 1pm, while on Sep 19, it will be open from midnight to 6am, 10am to 5pm and from 10pm to 6am.
Car parks at Suntec City, Millenia Singapore and Marina Square will remain open to public.
Temporary parking lot closures
In addition to these road closures, 78 parking lots will be transformed into ‘PARKs’ for community events on Friday (Sep 16).
This means that you will not be able to park at these parking lots affected in areas such as Little India, Telok Ayer, Raffles Place, Outram, Bugis, Kampong Glam, East Coast, Sembawang and Tiong Bahru, The Urban Redevelopment Authority said in a statement today (Sep 13).
The closure timing varies with the earliest timing starting from 8am, while the last parking lot will reopen after 11pm.
During the closure, music performances, nostalgic carnival games, cultural exhibitions, story-telling sessions, workshops, a coffee booth and even a spa will take over these parking lots.
Students from Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), along with their counterparts from LASELLE College of the Arts, School of the Arts, Nanyang Polytechnic and Republic Polytechnic are organising the activities for this year’s PARK(ing) Day.
“PARK(ing) Day is more than just turning parking lots into parks and having fun,” said Dr Chong Keng Hua, Assistant Professor at SUTD.
“It is about starting a movement of community design and placemaking in a city – to get the public involved in transforming the streetscape, making it more walkable, more inclusive, safer and livelier.
“I hope that this event will inspire a year-round community movement in making our city better for everyone.”
More information on PARKs in Singapore and their locations can be found here: http://ura.sg/parkingday
grongloh@sph.com.sg
