Traffic woes in Sentosa Cove

Created as an exclusive residential estate on an offshore island, Sentosa Cove's tranquillity has been disrupted by revving sounds of sports cars and driving misdemeanours by residents and visitors such as speeding, driving against the flow of traffic, not stopping at pedestrian crossings and overtaking in a single lane.

Complaints from residents about such "reckless and dangerous driving behaviour" have led Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) to put up a month-long tender to conduct a study to improve road safety and the regulation of traffic in the enclave.

Spelling out the transgressions, which "may be committed by residents, visitors, taxi-drivers and contractors", the tender document said: "Community tolerance and consideration can be fragile and easily threatened by inconsiderate conduct and unruly behaviour of motorists on the use of road space that meanders through Sentosa Cove, posing serious challenge to the safety and lifestyle of this community."

Responding to TODAY's queries, Ms Catherine Chew, General Manager of SDC subsidiary Sentosa Cove Resort Management, said that there are about 1,300 occupied households in the enclave as of last month.

By 2014, as new developments are built, the estate can accommodate 2,160 households in a mix of luxury condominiums and landed properties in its three precincts.

"As the population in Sentosa Cove continues to grow, the priority of the management has been to ensure safety within the residential precinct," Ms Chew said. She added that to this end, measures such as regulating strips, flexible road dividers, blinking pedestrian crossing signs and road humps have been installed on the roads in Sentosa Cove.

Referring to the tender, Ms Chew said: "As further precaution, we also intend to conduct a traffic and road safety review."

Similar to residential estates on mainland Singapore, the speed limit on the roads in the enclave is 40 kmh, Ms Chew said. The other roads on Sentosa Island have speed limits of between 40 and 50kmh.

According to the tender document, the consultant engaged for the study will need to look into areas such as enforcement measures including the use of speed cameras and suitable locations to install these.

The level of noise emitted by "high-performance vehicles" will also be reviewed to determine what "may be considered reasonable in a quiet residential environment, especially at night". The consultant will also need to review the current practice of allowing food delivery motorcycles into the residential precincts.

Sentosa Cove resident Michelle McDonald said that taxi drivers tend to speed, despite the placement of speed cones and bumps in certain zones.

Mrs Mia Lindbergh, who lives in a landed property along Ocean Drive, said she was concerned about the safety of children, given that Sentosa Cove houses are designed without gates.

However, resident Nancy Hawkes felt that some of the residents were over-reacting. "No matter where you go to, you'll hear a bit (of noise) here and there, when you stay in the city, you hear buses, traffic, everything," she said. Nevertheless, she added: "Occasionally, but very rarely, you get some people (from outside) who come in here, park their cars in the middle of the road and take photographs."

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Oh my, what happens when the rich complains against the rich? It is no wonder the rich living in Sentosa is facing a pretty unique problem. With houses costing S$10m in minimum, it is no surprise that each household owns a super car. If you don't believe it, take a drive down Sentosa Cove in your humble BMW and you will feel so small even if yours is a 335i.

What can you expect from drivers behind the wheel of super cars? Rolling down the driveway at 30km/h?? I'm afraid that will cause their V12s to overheat and their million dollar machines will burst into flames.

Safety issues wise, there are ways to improve it. Examples are building A LOT more humps and installing speed cameras at strategic locations to curb speeding. At the end of the day, it isn't the car but the driver that is responsible for any form of reckless driving.