Going over, going under
Let’s talk pedestrian networks to MRT stations.
Apparently the J-Walk in Jurong East is pretty tightly regulated, but it’s largely a standalone oddity. The CBD area is less formalized in a certain sense, but there are things happening — and not happening — there as well.
These pedestrian networks are deliberately implemented to shield commuters and other users from the worst of Singapore weather. I view them as very necessary for this reason, and we must also examine how they can work in the overall scheme of things.
Of course, the LTA also plays its part — there are underground public spaces at Marine Parade and Sungei Bedok on the TEL4/5, for example. But that’s a story for another day.
Uniform
Just fifteen years ago, there was a yawning chasm of empty space between Jurong East MRT and IMM. There were plans to do something there, but they fell through and the land was left to sit.
That is, until Jem, Westgate, and Ng Teng Fong General Hospital came along. The first two developments connected directly to Jurong East MRT, using space built as part of the construction of what are now Platforms A and B. Then, through NTFGH and the Devan Nair Institute, it’s now possible to walk to IMM without getting under the sun.
The same will repeat itself southwest of Jurong East MRT. Apart from the JRL station, there is, of course, the new integrated development consisting of the permanent Jurong East bus interchange, the library, LTA offices, and other community facilities. Already much of the construction works around the concourse and ground levels of Jurong East MRT is underway to integrate the expanded MRT station with the integrated development. There are also studies underway for the Ministry of Sustainability and Environment to move to Jurong as well.
There are also strict standards that I assume are likely intended to ensure a cohesive wayfinding identity and lived experience within the JLD. Through these guidelines, developers are obligated to hook into the overall wayfinding strategy, which could help people find their way around the district better.
Not a blank slate
What is the most interesting, though, is the Master Developer sales land to the south.
Under the URA Control Plans provided for the land lots, there are considerable amounts of public realm and public walkways that are to be built by the successful tenderer of the land. Essentially, almost the entire ~700m long walking connection between Jurong East MRT and the CRL Jurong Lake District station is to be built by this master developer.
As we can see in these two excerpts of the URA Control Plans, developers are required to provide a through link across Jurong Gateway Road and Jurong Town Hall Road, all the way from the existing Jurong East station to the CRL Jurong Lake District station.
There’s also talk of integrating the knock-out panels with future developments, such as whatever replaces JCube. If we might want to be hopeful, we can even expect provisions for a HSR station, whatever form it takes, to be part of this development as well. That should assuage concerns that the HSR and CRL is difficult to get to, and also likely mean that with better CRL access, not so many people will be tempted to change at Clementi.
At least what JLD has on its side is that its core seems relatively small and walkable. Likewise, developing the core first through this Master Developer site also means a foundation can be set aside for future underground links within the southern parts of JLD — bearing in mind that with the underground CRL station, the level changes from elevated to underground are non-negotiable.
Though, in any case, it seems that the urban design will allow public transport users to pre-sort themselves into walking directly to their MRT line of choice. Similar to the plans for downtown, but this has its downsides.
The gaps in Marina Bay
The same cannot be said for the central and Marina Bay area. Without a doubt, there are likely also plans for the Marina Bay and Marina South area. Marina South is proceeding at a glacial pace, but Marina Bay is more clearly unfinished.
I was at Marina One earlier, and to my amusement, this is what I found in its basement.
To the left, the doors lead up to a set of escalators that bring you to Marina Way. From there, the only way forward is a covered walkway taking you to exit 1 of Marina Bay station, a pretty sorry sight in itself.
But that’s not the issue. The issue is that 120m beyond that wall, is the NSL-TEL paid link of Marina Bay station, as well as the fareline for exit 5 and the future public connection to the Circle Line. It would not have been much of a hard ask to just finish this underpass as well. Then again, it might not have been necessary either, considering that the other side of Marina One also has a similarly long underpass leading to Shenton Way station.
As it stands, walking from MBFC to Marina Bay station involves crossing the Central Boulevard/Marina Way junction at grade, then walking down a covered walkway to take you to Exit 1, in the middle of a field. From there, you walk down another tunnel to take you to the faregates proper.
I can’t help but think whether more can be done. Yes, the NSL side of Marina Bay station is a Civil Defence shelter, and that restricts the kind of works that can be undertaken. Most notably, the construction of the Circle Line section took over the old Exit A area as the Circle Line paid link, likely to avoid having to build new reinforced CD doors and areas. But things can be done with the rest of the space, all the more so since the area above Marina Bay station has been zoned as a green space. Perhaps travellators could be built.
Or maybe even the best thing that can be done is to extend the Exit 1 underpass all the way to MBFC’s basement if possible, finding a way around the NSL/DTL tunnel crossing. This may be all the more necessary if Commerce Street is extended across the north-eastern side of Marina Bay station as planned in the URA Masterplan, which will add a second at-grade road crossing to get to the MRT if the status quo is maintained.
While it can be argued that the current approach for Marina Bay is to get developers to build such links, I question if that’s a good idea, especially if we’re talking another 10–15 years to really start developing the area especially if they’re waiting for Paya Lebar Air Base to move out and free up height limits. It may pay off for the URA to invest in the underground development first, much like what it did with CityLink Mall, as well as preparing the Common Services Tunnel in Marina Bay well ahead of development. Then, subsequently, the aboveground developments can simply be inserted on a plug and play basis.
Adding colour
I could be just making mountains out of molehills. Walking around Marina Bay station reveal many places that could be used to plug into future developments. The government has a lot of work to do in revitalizing the CBD, and the groundwork for this can be found in the TEL stations built in the Marina Bay area. No doubt it has plans for significant densification, considering that the TEL stations right now are much larger than they need to be. However, it must also learn the right lessons from the JLD experience and apply it in the Marina Bay area.
I’m sure that currently there are already people who take the walk from MBFC to Marina Bay as I’ve described. But I’m also equally sure about there being a similar constituency of people who walk to DT17 Downtown instead, and from there take a DTL train to Newton, Stevens, or Bugis. This creates unhealthy levels of core congestion on the DTL today, which makes it hard for additional service to be justified if they’re only needed in the core.
An extensive pedestrian network would easily allow people to presort themselves to use the respective MRT stations depending on their final destination — someone going to southern Bedok could be pointed towards the TEL then a bus from the Bedok South ITH, so they won’t be on the DTL and/or EWL. Or if it were easier to get to Marina Bay, a northbound passenger could just board the NSL from there directly, instead of going through Newton.
And of course, whatever the LTA can do, it may be well-placed to do now, including improved street-level wayfinding. People may be more incentivized to use the TEL if Maxwell and Shenton Way stations were better advertised. Or DTL3 Bencoolen station — if the underground networks in the area weren’t so disjoint especially around SMU.
The same applies in JLD. Longer distance commuters can and should be pointed directly to the Jurong Lake District station, and given a reduced incentive to use the EWL at Jurong East and change to the CRL at Clementi. This could help to relieve the expected congestion load at Clementi station, since people would already be on the CRL trains.
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