All choked up

Source: Straits Times Aug 2, 2009

When the party scene at Clarke Quay starts heating up, so does the traffic there, with cabs in taxi queues jamming up the road

By Cheryl Tan
Cabs in the taxi stand queue in River Valley Road (left) take up one -and sometimes,two- lanes, which jams up the road and makes it hard for vehides on the opposite side to make a U-turn. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE

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THINGS are really jammin' along River Valley Road on weekend nights at nightspot hotspot Clarke Quay. As in a hazardous mix of traffic jams, taxi queues and pedestrian partygoers, that is.

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Snaking taxi queues waiting to pick up passengers at the main drop-off point in the area, the Clarke Quay taxi stand outside The Cannery building, hog an entire lane of a three-lane road, effectively reducing it to two lanes.

Because of this, motorists trying to make a U-turn from the opposite side of the road have to negotiate a tighter turn and keep an eye on the fast oncoming traffic.

Add jaywalking pedestrians to the mix and the buildup becomes a jumble of honking cars and flashing headlights.

Marketing executive Alina Quek said: 'It is an accident waiting to happen. There is just not enough space to U-turn once the taxis start lining up.'

The 31-year-old added that cars making a U-turn also have to look out for fast oncoming traffic, which causes a second buildup on the opposite side of the road if drivers stall for fear of a collision. 'You can wait up to 10 minutes just to make a U-turn,' said Ms Quek, who has been frequenting Clarke Quay nightspots every week for more than two years.

She observed that the jam starts to build up close to 11pm when party revellers start to arrive, and said that as the U-turn queue grows longer, partygoers 'alight from their taxis on the other side of the road and cross the road to save time and money'.

Bank manager Kelvin Tan blamed the 'horrible road design' for the chaotic traffic situation and said it was a result of a badly placed U-turn and taxi stand.

But it seems the perennial traffic issue is something many Clarke Quay goers have got used to.

Bank officer Kong Deyuen, 24, takes the MRT instead of a cab whenever he heads there for his weekly drinking session with friends. 'It takes too long for me to alight from my taxi because of the long U-turn queue,' he said.

Read the full story in The Sunday Times.