Sky park to be built above Bukit Timah canal as part of new green corridor

Vanessa Lim Channel NewsAsia 31 Aug 19;

SINGAPORE: A sky park is set to be built above the Bukit Timah canal, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong announced on Saturday (Aug 31).

Construction works for the first phase of the new park, a 1.4km elevated stretch that runs from the Rail Corridor to Elm Avenue, will start in 2021 and is expected to be completed within two to three years.

The sky park is part of the National Parks Board (NParks) plan to develop the Bukit Timah-Rochor Green Corridor, a linear park that lies between Bukit Timah Road and Dunearn Road.

In future, this green corridor may be extended all the way to Kallang Riverside, totalling 11km.

Mr Wong said the new green corridor will serve as a crucial green link connecting the three national gardens – Jurong Lake Gardens, Singapore Botanic Gardens and Gardens by the Bay – and help to optimise space.

"This space is part of our drainage reserves, which we usually don't touch, but now we're developing a linear park above the canal so users will be separated from the traffic below," said Mr Wong.

Speaking at the former Bukit Timah railway station, Mr Wong also announced that works to restore the conserved station and its surroundings have begun.

The former station is at one end of the 4km central part of the Rail Corridor. The other end is at Hillview MRT station.

According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and NParks, the building will retain its original railway features but will be repurposed as a heritage gallery for visitors to learn about the history of the railway station and the Rail Corridor. The agencies say that restoration works will be carried out in line with conservation guidelines.

The area will also see the building of a new entrance garden at King Albert Park, an orchard inspired by a 1960s Kampung, as well as new fruit trees such as cempedak, binjai and belimbing.

In October last year, NParks and URA started works to enhance the central part of the Rail Corridor. This includes improvements to trails, restoration works for the truss bridges, construction of a new pedestrian underpass at Hindhede Drive, and habitat enhancements.

Mr Wong also announced that several stretches, totalling 4.2km, of the southern half of the Rail Corridor have been reopened to the public.

The 11km stretch from Bukit Timah to Tanjong Pagar was closed in 2016 due to pipe works carried out by PUB.

By 2020, the whole southern half of the Rail Corridor will be opened.

Source: CNA/mn

New green corridor to connect Singapore's three national gardens
Tiffany Fumiko Tay Straits Times 31 Aug 19;

SINGAPORE - A new green corridor will connect Singapore's three national gardens when it is completed in the coming years, if plans to plug a gap in Singapore's green links come to fruition.

The 11km Bukit Timah-Rochor Green Corridor, which will run parallel to the Bukit Timah Canal, will give cyclists and pedestrians a continuous path between Jurong Lake Gardens, the Singapore Botanic Gardens and Gardens by the Bay.

Construction for the first phase, a 1.4km elevated linear park that will lie above the canal between Bukit Timah and Dunearn Road, will begin in 2021. There are plans for it to be extended to Kallang Riverside Park in the future.

National Development Minister Lawrence Wong announced this along with updated plans for the Rail Corridor's key Bukit Timah Railway Station community node at a community event at the station on Saturday (Aug 31).

"The land around the canal is drainage reserve. There's not a lot of land around there to build a nice green park," he said, noting that the elevated sky park is a way of optimising space in a compact city.

Extending the corridor to Kallang will connect Singapore's three national gardens, said Mr Wong, who is also Second Minister for Finance.

"Taken together, all of these new green developments will enable Singaporeans to experience and explore our little island in exciting ways. You can enjoy the rich heritage and biodiversity of the rail corridor, and then from this major spine, branch off to explore other recreational connections."

The first phase of the Bukit Timah-Rochor Green Corridor will connect to existing overhead bridges as well as the Rail Corridor near the Bukit Timah Railway Station node.

An orchard featuring cempedak, binjai and other fruit trees, amenities such as toilets and bicycle racks and a heritage gallery housed in the conserved railway station are among plans for the node.

The station, which has fallen into disrepair, will be restored along with the tracks, truss bridges and other rail artefacts.

The nearby staff quarters will have a heritage garden, and may house a small food and beverage establishment in the future.

Works to restore both buildings will be done in accordance with conservation guidelines, the National Parks Board (NParks) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said.

The 24km Rail Corridor, a continuous green stretch that runs from Woodlands in the north to Tanjong Pagar in the south, lies along a former railway line used for commuting and transporting goods between Singapore and the rest of the Malay peninsula.

While trail improvement and other works to enhance a central 4km stretch of the corridor began last year, the Bukit Timah Railway Station node will be the first of several planned way stations along the route to begin works. Works for the node will begin early next year.

The 1930s station along the former KTM railway line has not been used since 2011, when the railway was decommissioned.

With most of the tracks and railway equipment along the Rail Corridor having been removed as part of a land swop agreement with Malaysia, the remaining tracks and steel truss bridges surrounding the former Bukit Timah station have made it a popular photo spot for visitors.

The southern half of the corridor, currently closed for pipe laying works by PUB, will be progressively reopened by next year.

The Rail Corridor is expected to be fully accessible by 2021, when trail improvement works are completed.