PUBLISHED ONMay 30, 2025 12:38 PMByChing Shi JieAs vehicles on the departure lane on the Causeway came to a halt on Friday (May 30) 4pm, six officers from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) got to work.
Like clockwork, they unloaded several water-filled barriers and safety cones from a van in the sweltering heat, before placing them along the lane markers.
When traffic at the departure lanes resumed at 4.30pm, one of the lanes had been converted into an arrival lane for heavy vehicles.
The contra-flow operation with a "flexi-lane" at Woodlands Checkpoint is one of the traffic management options that ICA employs to ease congestion during peak periods.
Others include converting part of the departure cargo zone to clear cars departing Woodlands Checkpoint.
Contra-flow traffic operations are temporary arrangements in which traffic flows in the opposite direction of the usual flow. Their frequency largely depends on real-time traffic conditions.
The green light is given by ICA officers in the operations room at Woodlands Checkpoint, who monitor human and vehicular traffic round the clock via surveillance cameras.
ICA's demonstration to the media came less than a week after a Singapore-registered car heading into Johor Bahru collided head-on with a Causeway Link bus en route to Singapore at Woodlands Crossing leading to the Causeway.
The accident, which happened on May 24 at around 5.30am, led to the car driver and his three passengers being taken to hospital. The lane was also closed for around three hours.
In a statement on the same day, ICA said that its preliminary investigations found that prior to the accident, barriers were not in place when the contra-flow operation was activated, which was not in accordance with safety procedures,
"We will comprehensively review our safety measures before restarting the contra-flow operations," the authority said then.
ICA said that since the contra-flow operations resumed on May 26, it has implemented more safety measures at Woodlands Checkpoint during peak hours.
AsiaOne witnessed some of the safety enhancements that ICA has rolled out.
They include safety barriers with blinker lights and cones with reflector discs marking out the end of the lane which are set up about 20m further ahead to give motorists advance notice that they would have to merge into the two remaining lanes.
ICA said that commanders conduct ground checks to make sure the departure lane is clear before commencing contra-flow operations.
Speaking to reporters on May 30, Senior Assistant Commissioner Maran Subrahmaniyan said that more than one million travellers cross the borders through Singapore's land checkpoints on weekends.
The commander of ICA's Woodlands Command said that given the current infrastructural constraints and increasing travel volume, especially cars and motorbikes, the authority has been leveraging technology to better monitor and manage the traffic at the land checkpoints.
He added: "Contra-flow operations at our side of the Causeway are part of our measures during daily peak hours to manage traffic congestion. We have enhanced the safety measures of our contra-flow operations to further increase visibility of the contra-flow lane.
"We have also put in place additional layers of checks to ensure safety protocols are in place before the contra-flow operations are activated.
"ICA will continue to review our measures implemented at the checkpoints to ensure safety of the motorists."
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