Bidadari-Bartley Road roadworks to be completed by end-Oct after delay
Esther Loi for The Straits Times
Roadworks at a junction linking Bartley Road to the main road for Bidadari town will be completed by the end of October, following a delay from the earlier schedule of end-2024 to early-2025.
The Housing Board said the delays were due to technical complexities of the site, which intersects Bartley Road, Serangon Avenue 1 and Bidadari Park Drive. Bartley Road needed to be raised to be at the same height as Bidadari Park Drive.
The original contractor was also unable to complete the project - at first slated to be finished by late 2022, but delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic - despite additional rounds of assistance from HDB.
HDB said it brought in a contingency contractor, KTC Civil Engineering and Construction, in November 2024 to take over the project entirely and complete the remaining works.
They are being done in two phases, with the first the opening of Bidadari Park Drive on May 9.
Motorists can use the new road to access Bidadari estate from the westbound lanes of Bartley Road towards Bishan.
Before this section was ready, motorists could get to the estate from Bartley Road only via Mount Vernon Road, said HDB.
Two U-turns have been set up at the junction connecting Bidadari Park Drive and Bartley Walk in front of Maris Stella High School, and another junction linking Bidadari Park Drive with Bartley Road, enabling motorists to enter the nearby Build-To-Order projects Woodleigh Hillside and Bartley GreenRise via Bidadari Park Drive.
When the second phase is completed at the end of October, motorists will be able to travel in all four directions across the junction.
At present, vehicles cannot turn right from Bidadari Park Drive towards Bartley Road, or proceed directly to Serangoon Avenue 1.
Motorists also cannot turn right from the eastbound lanes of Bartley Road onto Bidadari Park Drive.
Further enhancements will ease travel for motorists at that intersection.
There will be an extra right-turning lane onto Serangoon Avenue 1 travelling westbound on Bartley Road.
A new slip road will be added to the eastbound stretch of Bartley Road to turn into Serangoon Avenue 1.
Separately, HDB said that in August, a wider yellow box junction was completed where Jalan Rindu connects to Serangoon Avenue 1, in response to feedback from motorists about potential traffic congestion for those filtering out into traffic from Jalan Rindu when the new junction is ready.
To reduce the inconvenience to residents and motorists, HDB said it ensured that three lanes on Bartley Road remained open to traffic at all times during construction.
Speaker of Parliament and Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC MP Seah Kian Peng said the delay was unfortunate, adding that the decision was made to open the junction in phases to mitigate the impact of the delay.
Mr Seah also said feedback and comments from residents have generally been favourable, as the road works will eventually benefit motorists, pedestrians and people living on both sides of the junction.
Thanking residents for their patience and understanding over the past few months, Mr Seah said: "Overall, I am confident that on balance, residents living in the vicinity - Bartley and Bidadari - will see an improvement in the accessibility and connectivity for all in the area."
Residents whom ST spoke to had mixed reactions to the delay.
Woodleigh Hillside resident Emanuel Goh, 27, expressed disappointment that the junction was still not completed 2½ years after he had moved in.
The pastor said he currently needs to make a five- to seven-minute detour via Bartley Road and Upper Serangoon Viaduct to get to his parents' home on Serangoon Avenue 1 and to his workplace on Upper Serangoon Road - and is looking forward to cutting across the junction straight onto Serangoon Avenue 1.
"What irritates me is the lack of communication regarding the delay," he said, adding that he did not receive notices explaining the reasons behind the delays and was unaware of the final completion date.
Ms Jasmine Tan, 30, another Woodleigh Hillside resident, said the extra time she spends making detours around the incomplete junction is still within a range she finds acceptable, since she needs to travel via Bartley Road only once a week to visit her parents or in-laws in the east.
This is because on most days, the sales account manager travels in the opposite direction - via Bidadari Park Drive and Upper Aljunied Road - to get to her workplace in Tai Seng.
But Ms Tan added that she will welcome the opening of the junction, which will mean she no longer needs to make a detour via Mount Vernon Road to get onto Bartley Road if she is travelling towards Bartley Road East.
