SINGAPORE – Mr Jasper Tan, a long-time Oxley Road resident, has seen more heavy vehicles, including buses and lorries, passing through Oxley Road in recent years.
There is also the longstanding issue of illegal parking at Oxley Mansion, a freehold walk-up apartment at the corner of Eber Road and Oxley Road where he has lived for more than 50 years, he said.
While traffic congestion on the two-lane Oxley Road is not a major issue for now, Mr Tan, 58, told The Straits Times on Nov 4 he is concerned these issues could worsen if 38 Oxley Road – the site of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew’s family home – is gazetted as a national monument.
announced its intention to do so
, and if gazetted and acquired by the Government, the site will be converted into a public space such as a heritage park.
While Mr Tan supports the potential gazetting of the site as a national monument, the retiree also said he was concerned about the traffic congestion, crowds and noise that such a space may attract to the quiet, sleepy estate.
“That site is an odd area for a public space… the area isn’t built for that purpose,” he said.
The resident also raised questions about how the masses will be able to access the site, if it is to be converted into a public park, via the existing two-lane road.
He said: “Many people already use our carpark as a public carpark because there is no security, guards or gates at its entrance.”
Residents even had to lock up a water pump at Oxley Mansion’s carpark, as trespassers would try to use it to wash their cars.
There is a long-standing issue of illegal parking at Oxley Mansion.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
“If the site becomes a public park, and people want to drive here, where would they park?” Mr Tan asked.
Turning this area into a no-car zone may not work because Oxley Road is a vital artery between Orchard Road and River Valley Road, he said.
He suggested the possibility of making the nearby Dublin Road the entry point for the proposed park.
