SINGAPORE — Residents in eastern and north-eastern Singapore, including in Hougang, Sengkang and Serangoon, will get better access to cycling infrastructure by 2030, as more cycling paths continue to be built across the island.

On July 22, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) called for a tender for the construction of about 87km of new cycling paths in seven towns — Geylang, Hougang, Kaki Bukit, Marine Parade, Potong Pasir, Sengkang and Serangoon — as well as in industrial estates in Sin Ming, Bedok, Pasir Ris and Tampines.

Construction of these new paths will start from early 2026, and the works are expected to be fully completed by the end of 2030.

LTA's latest tender builds upon an earlier $188.3 million contract that was awarded in August 2023 to construct about 55km of cycling paths in the same seven towns by 2025.

In all, the two tenders covering the east and north-east of Singapore will add about 142km to the national cycling path network, which the authority said is on track to reach 1,300km by 2030.

Over the past two years, LTA has also awarded two other contracts to build 20km of new cycling paths in the city and city fringe areas such as in Bukit Merah and Telok Blangah, and 34.4km of new paths in western and central Singapore, in places such as Jurong West, Bukit Batok and Clementi.

In response to queries, LTA said it is taking a phased approach to expanding the cycling path network across all towns here, and working with various agencies to carve out the space needed.

It said the contracts that have been awarded so far provide "initial cycling path connectivity" to key transport nodes and amenities in each town. While the construction of these initial paths will be completed in 2025, LTA said most residents can expect to see some cycling paths open in their towns by the end of 2024.

To date, there are more than 600km of cycling paths and park connectors islandwide, and more tenders to build new cycling paths will be called progressively, LTA added. The goal, it said, is to have eight in 10 Housing Board residents be within minutes of their nearest cycling path.

In LTA's latest tender, about 20km of new cycling paths will be built in Hougang from 2026, 15km in Sengkang and Serangoon, 12km in Geylang, 6km in Marine Parade, 5km in Potong Pasir and 4km in Kaki Bukit.

Additionally, about 5km of new paths will be in the Pasir Ris industrial area, 3km in the Tampines industrial area, and 1km each in the Bedok and Sin Ming industrial estates. These plans are subject to change, depending on site conditions.

According to tender documents seen by The Straits Times, the plan is to build the 87km of new paths in two stages — the first 40km within three years of the new tender being awarded, and the remaining 47km by 2030.

Where possible, the contractor will build dedicated cycling paths, with pedestrian footpaths alongside them. According to the documents seen by ST, these dedicated cycling paths are expected to form at least 30 per cent of the 87km of paths that LTA plans to build under the latest tender.

As with other dedicated cycling paths around the island, the cycling path should be at least 2m wide, while the adjacent footpath should be at least 1.5m wide.

With LTA adopting more environmentally friendly construction methods and materials since 2023, the new cycling path tender also stipulates such practices, including the use of low-carbon concrete, and glass fibre-reinforced polymers as an alternative to steel reinforcement bars.

Other works in the tender include widening existing pedestrian crossings and traffic islands at several road junctions, such as the intersection of Sims Avenue and Aljunied Road and the busy Braddell-Upper Serangoon-Bartley road junction.

Tender documents also show plans to repurpose some road space to build the new paths in places such as Joo Seng Road in Tai Seng.

Meanwhile, an earlier proposal by LTA to build a new cycling bridge across Tampines Expressway in Sengkang, linking Punggol MRT station with Sengkang Sculpture Park, remains under study, the authority said.

Cyclists said they are glad to see new cycling paths being completed in recent months, and welcomed the plans to build more. But they hope the design of the paths can be improved.

Undergraduate Ong Jia Cheng said he would like to see LTA take a more radical approach by making cycling paths along main roads continuous, so cyclists do not have to stop and yield to traffic every time they need to cross a side street.

He said the cycling path network within each town remains disconnected, but the latest tender should help address this.

"This contract is particularly important as we are starting to see more cycling paths along arterial roads, such as Upper Serangoon Road and Upper Paya Lebar Road," he added, noting that these make cycling between the city and the north-east a viable commute.

Hougang resident Cheong Tak Wai said the pavements near his home have recently been widened, which has made cycling around town a better experience.

The 55-year-old, who works in the information technology sector, said cycling infrastructure in Singapore previously felt like an afterthought. But with money now being spent to build new and wider paths, he feels it sends a message that cycling can also be a viable mode of transport.

"I believe this will prompt more people to take it up," he added, though he said he wished more could be done to increase public acceptance of cyclists here.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.