Newly opened bridges link parks along Southern Ridge together
Sat, May 10, 2008
The Straits Times
THE wet morning on Saturday did not dampen the excitement of Telok Blangah resident Habib Ismail.
He was among 500 residents who watched Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong officially open two pedestrian bridges - Henderson Waves and Alexandra Arch.
With these bridges, Telok Blangah Hill Park is now linked to Mount Faber on one side and Kent Ridge Park on the other.
An avid walker, Mr Habib, 44, a father of two, then joined Mr Lee and the other residents on a tour of the bridges.
The bridges complete a 9km chain of greenery in the Southern Ridges, which consist primarily of three large hill parks - Mount Faber, Telok Blangah Hill Park and Kent Ridge Park.
Henderson Waves, at a height of 36m, is Singapore's highest pedestrian bridge. A wave-shaped, steel-and-timber structure, it spans 274 metres across Henderson Road.
The other bridge is Alexandra Arch, which spans 80 m across Alexandra Road.
The parks were previously separated by roads and wooded vegetation. Now one can walk ridge-to-ridge, starting from Harbourfront MRT and ending at West Coast Park.
In 2002, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said it will link up parks in the Southern Ridges, as part of the Parks and Waterbodies and Identity Plan.
The project, which took two years to complete, cost the URA $25.5 million.
Apart from the two bridges, the Southern Ridges now also boast the Forest Walk, a 1.3km-long elevated walkway that cuts through secondary forest at Telok Blangah Hill Park; and Marang Trail, which links Harbourfront MRT to Mount Faber.
PM Lee also officiated the opening of the $13 million Horticulture Park - or HortPark for short.
With 20 theme gardens, HortPark is Southeast Asia's first one-stop gardening and lifestyle hub.
Read the full story in tomorrow's edition of The Sunday Times.
