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  The New Paper 12 Aug 06
Take the bridges to the hills
By Teh Jen Lee

TIRED of exploring Bukit Timah Hill?

You will soon have another nature space to explore and retreat to from the concrete jungle. We're talking about the 9km-long Southern Ridges, made up of Mount Faber, Telok Blangah Hill and Kent Ridge.

By the end of next year, a series of bridges and nature trails will allow people to easily explore this chain of hills.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority showed The New Paper artists' impressions of the two bridges - Alexandra Link and Henderson Crossing. This is the first time that these artists' impressions have been unveiled in the papers since an international competition was launched in November 2003 to find suitable designs for the bridges.

The designs were picked from 65 entries that came from Singapore and other countries including the US, the UK and Japan. Work started on the 80m-long bridge across Alexandra Road in April.

The bridge is part of the Alexandra Link which will also include a 1.6-km meandering walkway leading to Telok Blangah Hill Park. Comprising an elevated walkway for pedestrians and a ground trail for cyclists, the link will be able to handle mass events such as walkathons.

Besides Alexandra Link, there's also the Henderson Crossing. Construction will start later this year. The 270m-long Henderson Crossing bridge will span Henderson Road to connect Telok Blangah Hill Park and Mount Faber Park.

At Mount Faber Park, an 800m-long nature trail is being constructed. When it's finished, pedestrians can walk from the Harbour Front MRT Station right up to the Mount Faber cable car station.

When all these new links are constructed, it will open up the entire stretch of green from Mount Faber Park to Alexandra Park for all to enjoy. People will also be able to enjoy panoramic views of Singapore's skyscrapers and the Harbour Front area from a new vantage point.

Miss Vasantha Kumari, who has been taking Sunday school students to Mount Faber and Telok Blangah Hill regularly over the past 10 years, is glad to hear of the Southern Ridges project.

'Right now, we use a rather rough side path to get from one park to another. It has a lot of undergrowth and we've encountered snakes there before. 'Some of the students are quite young so I think it's an excellent idea to make the area more easily accessible,' said Miss Vasantha, who is in her 40s.

Even better, by next year people will be able to access other parks too as the Southern Ridges will be part of the island-wide network of connected parks.

Park connectors are especially important to avid cyclists like Mr N Sivasothi, 40, a research officer, who cycles weekly in the area. 'It's wonderful. People will get to experience the topography of Singapore where it still exists at the Southern Ridges. 'A hilly park connector is unique and will give a different perspective.'
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