This defensive architecture shows why Singaporeans can't have nice things

Thank you e-scooter riders and cyclists for bestowing us with this.

Jonathan Lim| March 17, 01:36 PM

This photograph was uploaded on the Hardwarezone forums last night in a thread titled "GPGT Latest dumb thing Town council did.. put curb at walkway".

Forum-user AlmondShell uploaded the photograph and said that it was taken at "Block 100+" in Bedok North Avenue 4.

Many forum users blasted the design and questioned how wheelchair-bound people would be able to use the ramp with the three road blocks in their way.

Many speculated that the blocks were put there to prevent bicycles, e-scooters and e-bikes from speeding through the ramp.

In defence of the design, at least one user said this:

bedok north ramp

However, a few also questioned if the blocks make the ramp hard for mobility scooters, normally used by the elderly or disabled, to pass through:

bedok north ramp 2

Several forum-users also asked why a speed bump or hump was not used instead -- since it was easier for the wheelchair-bound to navigate.

Previously, in 2005, a cyclist was left paralysed after he rode straight into a set of railings, dubbed in some forums as an anti-cyclist device, that were put up overnight at the start of an overhead bridge to encourage those on bicycles to dismount and push their rides along pedestrian pathways.

anti-cyclist-device

The railings were subsequently removed following the accident.

The reality is that unless there is a way to discourage people from travelling at high speeds within HDB estates, Singaporeans may see more of these types of defensive architecture from popping up in other estates.

According to The Straits Times, in Aug 2014, the Bedok Town Council drew flak from the cycling community after it fined 11 cyclists $100 for riding through Bedok Town Centre. The Town Council said then that despite giving warnings and advisories over three years, the situation had "gone from bad to worse".

It clarified that those who were fined were riding in places with high pedestrian traffic where they were supposed to dismount and push their bicycles.

 

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