It is good that URA start to take into consideration an alternative way of transportation in the form of cycling. It could be Bike to Work (B2W) or Bike For Fun (BFF). In any case, it will keep Singapore citizens healthy doing so. I fully agree with the plan.
My previous experience with NParks PCN really give me good concerns as to whether the same thing will happen with cycling routes. Many of the cyclists I talked to say that they refused to go on PCN due to poor design. I can't disagree. There are way too many defects in PCN so much so that I wrote a blog about whether the PCN is built with cyclists in mind (http://jnhiew.blogspot.sg/2013/03/is-pcn-really-for-cyclists.html).
The founder of LCSG Taiwoon suggest I point out the issues in a particular section of the PCN and wrote to NParks about it. I did. NParks did reply to my feedback. However, after 6 months, I could only find 1 improvements out of the more than 20 issues (https://picasaweb.google.com/106611639464075912591/PCNIssues). Furthermore the path conditions has since worsens to have a number of pot holes that is covered with moss. Such is the experience I had.
With that in mind, I looked at the six draft routes by URA one by one.
CCK to City Route
Part of the route goes through PCN with all its existing issues. However, there is much less issues at the West Adventure Loop. It started on the Pang Sua PC. This section is very nice with broad paths. There are practically no obstructions here.
Three is currently no path near Verde View. It is a dead end at the end of Verde View.
The PC at Chua Chu Kang Dr is acceptable except for the portion right on top of KJE. It is typical of PCN on older overhead roads. The cement cover are loose. When you cycle or walk over it, it makes hell lot of noise. A very irritating sound effect.
From CCK Dr to Brickland RD, the path is always on the left hand side. I am glad they did as it is very confusing if you need to go to the left and right of roads in a path. That is the one point which puts people off especially when there is no signs that show the correct way. Many of the PCN signs are on the track itself. Some are so worn off that you cannot tell the direction. Unlike roads, there is no early warning. You actually reach the turning point then there is one sign showing the direction. Travel at 15 KPH and you will easily over shot before you see the turning sign.
I always joke about having to be extra alert cycling on PCN. You have to look out for cars, pedestrians, cyclists, obstacles, turns, and dangers 360 degrees around so much so that it hurts your eye just doing that.
The path on Brickland Rd, Bukit Batok Rd and Jurong Town Hall Rd are always on the RHS. There is no worry except for a few bus stops right in the path. Hopefully they make the path around the bus stops unlike PCN. PCN paths around bus stops are really a sore eye. It is very narrow and you will suddenly come face to face with a pillar, between pilars, or Sign board right across your path not to mention commuters standing or walking on the path itself.
One particular point of irritation is at Jurong Town Hall Rd junction near Jurong East St 11. The traffic light is so slow in changing so much so that I wonder whether it is working at all. I guess there is no choice as Jurong Town Hall Rd is a busy road.
There is currently no route between Jurong Town Hall Rd and the river (along AYE).
The section between IBP and Zion are existing PCs. These are some of the nice PCNs that I like to go on except for the fact that some part has to cross roads and the paths to cross the road are pathetic. Some are so narrow that even on a bike in a single direction is already very dangerous. We have to share it with pedestrians and cyclists in both directions on the same path.
There is one section between Buona Vista MRT and Queenstown MRT where there is no existing cycling path. I wonder how the cycling path is going to be. The road is very busy and the existing foot paths are narrow with many pedestrians using it. PCN did not bother (or cannot) building a path to span between the two places. Can URA do it?
The route ends abruptly at Zion Rd. what to do with the bicycle at the middle of no where? I guess it is get down and push your bike around to your destination.
This route is the most pleasant of the 5 commuting routes (Punggol -Sengkang Route is considered a leisure route.) Like Taiwoon, I separate commuting routes from leisure routes as they serve different purposes. Commuters do not want to waste time. They will take the easiest, shortest and fastest possible routes to their destination. Leisure cyclists will want to take their time tackling challenges like long distance, winding, difficult and hilly routes.
There is a sub class of the two group. This subgroup are usually those who are new to the route and wish to try out. If you have a route that is winding, complicated and difficult, they will not try again. All new cyclists belongs to this group.
Yishun to City Route
I have gone through this route on the reverse direction. Therefore, the description is in that order. The route starts from Tanjong Pagar MRT (actually it starts at the park nearby). The route started fine with available foot path till you try to cross from Tanjong Pagar Rd to Yan Kit Rd. The existing infrastructure is already very confusing. I am not sure if it is a good idea to create a cycling path. It does not make sense to go around it too. I guess it is up to URA to design it. Hopefully it will not be a narrow and winding path.
The green corridor is already an existing path. It is nice except you need to dismount and push your bike at the underpass below Neil Rd. As a cyclist, the idea of having to dismount and push bike is almost equal to telling cyclist not to use the path. How could you call it a cycling path when you cannot cycle? $1000 fine if you ignore it.
The section at Pearl's Hill Terrace is another potential issue. The road and path are both currently very narrow with little hope of expanding them. Adding a cycling route means adding new constrains to pedestrians and cars. I like the idea of going along the side of the Pearl Hill Park (not existing yet). Many B2W cyclist will rather not go up hills.
Is it really necessary to go around in Tiong Bahru Rd when Outram Rd is the shortest path?
The section between the bridge and Kim Seng Rd is another potential bottle neck. The road is narrow and the foot path is nothing but smooth. It is like going on a roller coaster path.
Obviously the advice on the bridge is to dismount and push across minus the $1000 fine sign.
The path between the river and River Valley Rd is in dire need of maintenance. Water collects in pools all along the path. I guess the path tilts the wrong way towards the wall fence. From River Valley Rd to Holland Rd is a typical winding and complicated route. I had to stop and look at my GPS map to check my location many times. Hopefully, cycling signs will help to lessen the task.
It is good design taking into consideration the expansion of Botanic Garden. The path is currently non-exsting. I did miss the turn into Tyersail Ave thus ending up going further down Holland Rd. This is due to the fact that my GPS voice navigation did not tell me to turn as it expects me to go further down before turning.
At Bukit Timah Rd, I lost track of the route as there is no crossing at the road. I then realize that it is an overhead bridge that I have to go up and cross the road. The idea of carrying bike up pedestrian crossing really puts me off. We usually do that at off road dirt tracks when it is too steep or dangerous. On roads with road bikes we don't expect to do the same. It will be a very good deterrent to many cyclists. Even with added railings so that cyclists will push their bike up and down the bridge, it is still a foul tasting experience. In the end I just go the junction nearby and cross the road.
I did not try to go up Adams Rd then find a path along PIE to Khean Hock Rd. From Google Maps Street view, there is no available path. I was lazy to find a path there thus use University Rd instead. It is a good idea bypassing the crossing over AYE as Adams Rd is already a up hill task. The hump at the crossing is even more difficult. The exit and entrance point of the PIE is also making it impossible to construct a cycling path.
The existing condition of the Lornie Rd does not allow crossing of the road from Khean Hock Rd. I guess it is still possible to create a crossing there as there are already traffic lights at the junction. I waited for one side of the road traffic to go red. Push the bike to the middle island and wait for the cars to clear from Country Club then push to the other side of the middle island before pushing across the rest of the road when that side of the traffic light turns red. It could be illegal to do so but since I had to try out the route, I have no choice.
Cutting into the McRitchie Reservoir path is really a bad idea for commuters. The hill is very steep and currently only have steps up hill. I cycled on an alternate way up the hill to bypass the steps. I can't make it too on my MTB. Consider that I have gone through the last King of Da Hill trip without even dismounting, this is a humiliation. Since it is not my hybrid, I swallow my pride and push the bike up the last 5 meters.
When I came to the underpass at Upper Thomson Road, I sigh loudly. Another dismount and push! If the path to the next road junction is not wet, I would have gone there to cross the road.
At Marrymount Rd there is a sudden change of sides near Shunfu Rd. Although this is the only middle of a road change side maneuver in this route, it still leaves some unhappiness in my heart. It is easy to miss the turn like this. Many cyclists would agree with me that this change of side creates confusion.
The rest of AMK route goes smoothly till AMK St 31. This is a side road with no traffic light control and plenty of cars existing. The problem is that there is no "STOP" sign except a white line across the road. Without passing Road Theory Test, I know that it is a stop sign. Car drivers don't even though they passed the theory test. They move beyond the white line right up to the edge of AMK Ave 6. This leave practically no room for pedestrians and cyclists alike to cross the road. It took me almost 5 minutes and some maneuver before I could cross that road. The same thing happen at AMK Central 1. I doubt the creation of a cycling path across the roads will make any difference unless it is a zebra crossing. Even then drivers may not recognize our rights to cross the road.
The one and only delight I have on this route is at Lentor Ave. If there is a cycling path on the existing walking path, it will make me very happy as crossing the underpass below SLE is way too dangerous. The traffic is way too busy for slow bikes to cross the entrance and exit point to SLE. I sure hope this will be the fist cycling path to build in the near future. It allow cyclist to cycle from Woodlands right up to Kallang via PCN. It is currently the only obstacle that deters cyclists from Woodlands/Sembawang/Yishun to City.
Just 4.5KM of cycling path that will make many cyclists from North West Singapore happy. Hundreds of Kilometers of cycling path is meaningless unless they are interconnected. I like to use the cyber term to refer to cycling between towns. It is called Inter-town cycling. The current meaning of inter-town cycling is actually intra-town cycling. NParks have 4 networks of PCN but they exists as islands by themselves. There is no connection between the four networks. I do hope that in the near future they will be connected.
Come to think of it, the 6 routes by URA is also not connected in any way. A more thoughtful design is to some how connect them especially the "to-city" routes. I choose to combine two routes back to back as they are quite close to each other. It also reflect my desire to have connected cycling paths. Cyclist may not cycle the whole length but many will use it to cross over to the other routes.
Pasir Ris to City Route
I started the route with the full awareness of the number of "dismount and xxxx" to be done. As said before, cyclists generally dislike to dismount from bike during cycling. I will elaborate more as I go along the route.
The route starts from Punggol Waterways near Lor Harus Wetland. Well, this cycling route start with "Dismount and Push". Why don't URA start the route at the Wetland instead. It is like telling cyclists that this route is not for cyclists.
The path along the canal between Farmway 3 and Drive 3 is perpetually wet at many places. I have not once cycle across it without having to go over water patches. Hopefully, there will be drainage when the cycling path is built.
There is no direct crossing at Pasir Dr 3 at the point proposed. It is right at a right angle turn which make any crossing of road dangerous.
I joked on FB about the "cycling path" near Blk 626 (Dr 3). It provoke a number of comments. Who's idea is it to ask a cyclist to turn in to a cycling path just to exit it within 25 meters. Does the planner really think that cyclist will do that? It looked nice on figures but fact will tell you that no one will actually do it. I was told there are bill board on two pillars right in the middle of the short cycling path. Some still exists at Dr 1. It will be a laughing stock to every cyclists who knows it.
The next dismount and push is near TPE. The first one cross the canal the second one is across TPE itself. The blanked out PCN markings on the bridge across TPE is a sign of poor understanding of cycling. It can't be a PCN (where you can cycle) on the bridge.
I would say the creation of PCN under MRT lines is a good idea. It is a waste of land with the train up there and there is nothing nice or useful below it.
Sad to see the first dismount and carry at Bedok North Rd. Many cyclists will curse and swear carrying their bikes across the bridge. Obviously many others will not even use the cycling path here.
There is yet another dismount and push across PIE. I lost count of how many dismounts already.
The Siglap PC crosses the canal just before Kembangan MRT. The proposed route goes straight. I guess it will be a confusion to many cyclists later.
From this point onwards till Kallang MRT, the route generally follow the rail track. There are problems arising from this path. I will explain them as we go along.
At Eunos Rd, there is no meaning creating a cycling path across the road. It is a very busy road. I guess the path turns towards the junction then back under the rail. Problem arises after Eunos MRT. The bus terminal is right below the MRT line. I guess the best way is to create the route to the right of the terminal.
The next obstacle is crossing Paya Lebar Rd. There is already an underpass so I doubt there will be a crossing here. Problem is you have to dismount and carry across the underpass. It will be difficult during office hours. I see a lot of people around. Curse and swear you may have to be but that will probably be the fact.
There is another impasse at Ajunied Rd. It is all fenced up. The only way you could cross it is via the over head bridge. That means another dismount and carry.
You will have to go to the junction at Sims Way. Probably the cycling route will be near the road instead.
Dismount and push down the underpass at Geylang Rd. No through road below the Nicoll Highway for the time being as there is construction near Nicoll Highway.
Not sure whether there is a need to carry up stairs to reach Nicoll Highway in future. For the time being I have to use an alternate path to reach Nicoll Highway. That means I have to dismount and carry near Republic Ave to access to Nicoll Highway.
The route ended abruptly near Esplanade Park.
I am sure you get sick of just reading the number of message about having to dismount and push or carry in this route. That is probably the same when the new route is available. Sad to say that it will still be called "cycling path".
Central Area Route
This is a short route with one section of it going up and down hill back and forth. City area cycling is always confusing to me. There are just too many road crossings. It is easy to lost our way as GPS reception is very poor when there are a lot of tall buildings. I get confused and is not able to fully make use of my voice navigation app. It ended up that I have to keep stopping and look at the route map.
The path ways are usually very narrow which make it more difficult to cycle with pedestrians around. The routes are really winding and complicated. I guess that is the only way cycling can be done in the City area.
There is only one "dismount and carry" in this route near Bukit Timah Rd. There is an "underpass" path way near Newton Circle. I wonder why the planner use the overhead bridge instead.
I can't stop giggling when I saw that the path go towards SGH then double back to the Singapore River again. Nothing wrong with the route. It is probably a fork of the path. One fork goes to SGH and the other goes to Marina Bay. It will be good exercise though if you follow exactly to the path as the SGH fork goes over a hill.
AMK-Buangkok- Kallang Route
This is another route that has a number of "dismount and xxxx" activity. I wonder why the planner does not make it a loop instead as the start and end is in AMK. I have not tried the route but since I passed through most of the path a number of times, I think I could talk about this route.
The AMK Ave 5 PC is a route that need serious repairs. Be prepared to get annoyed by the cement covers over a canal near Yio Chu Kang Rd. You will have a number of obstacles like poles and billboards in the path near bus stops. Some of the paths are very sharp right angle turns. Just be careful on the PC.
I was commuting on the PC this morning while going for the Pasir Ris to City route. As I goes near Nanyang Poly, a group of girls were walking on the PC. One of them saw me approaching and tries to turn to the other side of the path not aware that there is a cyclist going the opposite direction. She cross right into the cyclist's path. When she realize that she is sandwiched by two bike, she panicked and don't know what to do. I stopped so that the other cyclist could safely go pass. We pass each other with a big grin.
You will come across a lot of pedestrians who don't know how to walk on PC. They will behave erratically and you can't really tell how they will respond to cyclists. The only safe way is to go extra slow when approaching pedestrians. Try not to startle them as they will respond even more erratically. Ringing a bell is only feasible if they block the entire PC. Most of the time they can't hear you. No point shouting at them as they have the same right as you do. Just be nice.
The PC at Buangkok Green is Uphills and it has a lot of S shaped twists. Will not be a problem if you are the only one cycling. Just be careful when there is a cyclist going the opposite direction.
The PC at Buangkok Dr is wide. Don't get confused near Hougang Ave 6. The exit of the PC is not near the junction. It is further down on Ave 6 away from the junction. Why they design it like that is a mystery.
Beware of on coming traffic at the point below Upper Serangoon Rd. That is a blind spot turning. I do wish they put a corner mirror at the turn so that cyclists will be aware of the traffic.
Be aware of a "middle of the road side changing" at Hougang Ave 3.
I wonder why the designer choose the side near the Tai Seng MRT when there is an existing path available across the road. I guess it is harder to go on the left hand side of Ave 3.
Balam PC is a newly opened PC. To reach Kallang PC you have to dismount and carry across Ajunied Rd and dismount and push across PIE. The PIE over head bridge is extra high. Put more efforts to push your bike there as it is a step type with side rams for bike not a handicap friendly bridge.
Notice there is a boy in the picture below. He has to push like adults across the bridge. Other kids had adults helping them carry the bike across. Adults already find it difficult to cross. I feel sorry for the kid.
Dismount and push also at underpass below Upper Boon Keng Rd.
You may not go through the following obstacles on the new route.
Dismount and carry up a few steps to access to crossing at Kallang Bahru Rd.
Dismount and carry across over head bridge at Bendemeer Rd.
Dismount and carry across over head bridge at Serangoon Rd.
Dismount and carry across bridge over kallang River near Moonstone Ln.
Be aware that you are cycling on roads at Moonstone Ln. There is no marking on the road to say that it is PCN or cycling route.
You need to dismount and carry across a high over head bridge across PIE.
Although the above 6 obstacles are bypassed, there is no telling what new obstacles are created.
There is no further dismount till Bradell Rd. The bridge is currently being dismantled. There is no telling what the new bridge is going to be like. Hopefully cyclists can cycle across but it may be a wishful thinking. Probably a handicap friendly bridge is the best guess.
The rest of the route along Kallang river is pleasant and nice up to AMK Ave 1 where it ends.
Punggol Senkang Loop
I tried this loop quite some time ago. It is currently a complete PCN route already. I heard they are paving the roads at the PPN walk (previously it is a pebbled road which is not so road bike friendly.) I guess it is more of a leisure loop. Just be aware that the two bridge at the Punggol waterways are still dismount and push type. Unless they decided to create another crossing over the river, it will be the same in the future.
The PCN at Yio Chu Kang has a dismount and carry after crossing the road if I remember it correctly. I normally go on the road to enter exit the PC at Gerald Dr.
