6 Hours of Bukit Timah Traffic Jam & Poor Traffic Police Deployment
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My own photos & videos from the scene:
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My own photos & videos from the scene:
@ Ferrer Road near junction Bukit Timah Road
@ Bukit Timah Road near Coronation Shopping Center
@ Bukit Timah Road near Hua Zhong
@ Bukit Timah Road near junction 4th Ave
@ Bukit Timah Road near junction 6th Ave
@ Bukit Timah Road near Coronation Shopping Center
@ Bukit Timah Road near Hua Zhong
@ Bukit Timah Road near junction 4th Ave
@ Bukit Timah Road near junction 6th Ave
A crane accidentally hit this pedestrian bridge this afternoon Saturday 3.July.2010 around 1430Hr. Causing the structure to become unsafe and had to be demolished immediately. Since that accident there was about 6 whole hours of traffic jam along Bukit Timah and Ferrer Road area.
I was caught in the traffic for 1 and half hour in SMRT bus service number 67, beginning around Newton MRT area, and at about 6PM after suffering 1 and half hours within the crazy jam, passengers were suddenly being told by bus driver that there was road diversion ahead and passengers are to alight at Adams road junction, as we were not able to get to the Bukit Timah areas ahead.
I started to walk from Adams Road towards North West seeing this miles of crazy traffic jam. I checked on Ferrer Road as well, it was jammed like mad too. Due to the diverted traffic from Bukit Timah Road.
What was the most amazing thing was I saw TOTALLY NO TRAFFIC POLICE nor any POLICE MEN deploy along the jammed roads to help divert or control or direct the traffic! Not a single one! There were SMRT & SBS staffs deploy to divert their own company buses only.
Where are the matas? I will tell you only later.
But apparently motorists on the roads were all confused and frustrated. They got impatient and honked at each other. I tried to find out what was going on by listening to and scanning the FM radio stations, there were no information available for entire 30 mins.
I tried to check with the most informed drivers on the road - the taxi uncles, I asked 4 taxi drivers, because their FIRST WORLD COMPUTERIZED & SATELLITE GUIDED system were supposed to keep them informed of road conditions and traffic diversions. They also usually kept listening to radio about traffic news. They taxi drivers could only told me that Bukit Timah; Eng Neo; Ave 6; etc were closed, for unknown reasons starting from this afternoon. So I wouldn't take the taxi to pay for fare while awaiting within that crazy jam, I walked.
When I entered the Bukit Timah NPP, there was the 1st instance where I saw mata from our World Class Home Team. There were 2 of them comfortably sitting in the Aircon NPP behind the desk! I asked about the jam and was told that a bridge was hit by accident and thus road was closed. The mata asked where I was heading, but was unable to help me with useful information how to get there without being jammed.
I reached the trouble spot located just between 4th & 6th Avenues by around 2006Hr, saw that the broken bridge had been demolished, but the traffic police was still blocking the road entirely, for the lifting crane to be cleared.
That was where I first found the traffic police, there were about a dozen of them - but ALL DEPLOYED ONLY AT THAT SPOT (between 4th & 6th Ave plus a few in the other traffic direction)! Good Greif! From Stevens Road; Adams Road; Ferrer Road etc junctions (all jammed!) there was all the way NONE of them! They were all at the spot near 6th Ave! Excellent Deployment Strategy SPF! World Class Number One!
The bridge section that was cut down sits in a truck 100m away from the damaged bridge.
About 10 mins later the Traffic Police began to open Bukit Timah Road (North West direction) I checked the time, it was about 2015Hr. Roughly 6 hours after the bridge was accidentally hit by crane.
Well done Home Team! Hooray Ah Seng! Well done LTA also, they didn't inform taxi compaies and they did not put up those mobile LED digital message boards along the road to inform motorists! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!
I was caught in the traffic for 1 and half hour in SMRT bus service number 67, beginning around Newton MRT area, and at about 6PM after suffering 1 and half hours within the crazy jam, passengers were suddenly being told by bus driver that there was road diversion ahead and passengers are to alight at Adams road junction, as we were not able to get to the Bukit Timah areas ahead.
I started to walk from Adams Road towards North West seeing this miles of crazy traffic jam. I checked on Ferrer Road as well, it was jammed like mad too. Due to the diverted traffic from Bukit Timah Road.
What was the most amazing thing was I saw TOTALLY NO TRAFFIC POLICE nor any POLICE MEN deploy along the jammed roads to help divert or control or direct the traffic! Not a single one! There were SMRT & SBS staffs deploy to divert their own company buses only.
Where are the matas? I will tell you only later.
But apparently motorists on the roads were all confused and frustrated. They got impatient and honked at each other. I tried to find out what was going on by listening to and scanning the FM radio stations, there were no information available for entire 30 mins.
I tried to check with the most informed drivers on the road - the taxi uncles, I asked 4 taxi drivers, because their FIRST WORLD COMPUTERIZED & SATELLITE GUIDED system were supposed to keep them informed of road conditions and traffic diversions. They also usually kept listening to radio about traffic news. They taxi drivers could only told me that Bukit Timah; Eng Neo; Ave 6; etc were closed, for unknown reasons starting from this afternoon. So I wouldn't take the taxi to pay for fare while awaiting within that crazy jam, I walked.
When I entered the Bukit Timah NPP, there was the 1st instance where I saw mata from our World Class Home Team. There were 2 of them comfortably sitting in the Aircon NPP behind the desk! I asked about the jam and was told that a bridge was hit by accident and thus road was closed. The mata asked where I was heading, but was unable to help me with useful information how to get there without being jammed.
I reached the trouble spot located just between 4th & 6th Avenues by around 2006Hr, saw that the broken bridge had been demolished, but the traffic police was still blocking the road entirely, for the lifting crane to be cleared.
That was where I first found the traffic police, there were about a dozen of them - but ALL DEPLOYED ONLY AT THAT SPOT (between 4th & 6th Ave plus a few in the other traffic direction)! Good Greif! From Stevens Road; Adams Road; Ferrer Road etc junctions (all jammed!) there was all the way NONE of them! They were all at the spot near 6th Ave! Excellent Deployment Strategy SPF! World Class Number One!
The bridge section that was cut down sits in a truck 100m away from the damaged bridge.
About 10 mins later the Traffic Police began to open Bukit Timah Road (North West direction) I checked the time, it was about 2015Hr. Roughly 6 hours after the bridge was accidentally hit by crane.
Well done Home Team! Hooray Ah Seng! Well done LTA also, they didn't inform taxi compaies and they did not put up those mobile LED digital message boards along the road to inform motorists! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!
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To cut it short, the Bukit Timah Road was either closed too late (4hrs after impact) for public safety, or too early for removal, or both!
Dunearn Road (other side of Yaacob's LongKang) is a 3 lane road:
For the 6 hours of Bukit Timah Rd closure, famiLEE LEEgime could had divided a section (between the LongKang crossing bridges of 6th & 4th Ave) of Dunearn Road lanes to 2 directions, & divert the Bukit Timah Rd traffic to make a little detour across the LongKang at 4th Ave & then back Bk Timah Rd via 6th Ave LongKang crossing. In the past they did similar things elsewhere, by just placing police orange cones along the lane dividing lines.
But THEY DID NOT!
I was there, and I did not see this done.
The TP got a dozen of matas deployed but they just make all the traffic of Bk Timah Rd turn right across the LongKang at 4th Ave, and forbid the traffic from proceeding beyond. In my video you can however see at least one car turn out from 4th ave, not stopped by mata, to turn left into Bk Timah & proceeded and pass through where they had the emergency demolition works.
Dunearn Road (other side of Yaacob's LongKang) is a 3 lane road:
For the 6 hours of Bukit Timah Rd closure, famiLEE LEEgime could had divided a section (between the LongKang crossing bridges of 6th & 4th Ave) of Dunearn Road lanes to 2 directions, & divert the Bukit Timah Rd traffic to make a little detour across the LongKang at 4th Ave & then back Bk Timah Rd via 6th Ave LongKang crossing. In the past they did similar things elsewhere, by just placing police orange cones along the lane dividing lines.
But THEY DID NOT!
I was there, and I did not see this done.
The TP got a dozen of matas deployed but they just make all the traffic of Bk Timah Rd turn right across the LongKang at 4th Ave, and forbid the traffic from proceeding beyond. In my video you can however see at least one car turn out from 4th ave, not stopped by mata, to turn left into Bk Timah & proceeded and pass through where they had the emergency demolition works.
posted by uncleyap at 10:28 PM
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