Question:
Ms Hazel Poa: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs with regard to the planned expansion of Woodlands Checkpoint (a) why does the checkpoint need to be expanded by five times its current size when the number of daily travellers is only expected to increase between 33% to 40% by 2050; and (b) what is the expected increase in daily travellers who are Malaysian work pass holders.
Answer:
Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law:
1. The current Woodlands Checkpoint (WCP) has been in operation since 1999. Over the years, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) has implemented various measures to increase clearance efficiency, from automated lanes to dynamic conversion of clearance lanes from one mode of conveyance to another.
2. However, the extent to which ICA has been able to implement these measures, and the ability to implement more measures to enhance clearance efficiency, are limited by existing land and infrastructure constraints.
3. Compounding this situation is that the traveller and conveyance volume at WCP has grown sharply, beyond original projections. Today, WCP clears 300,000 travellers per day, and as many as 340,000 on long weekends and public holidays. This is a huge increase from 230,000 daily travellers in 2000. Pre-COVID-19, the annual conveyance volume passing through WCP was already about 43 million in 2019, far surpassing the design capacity of 35 million. The frequent congestion within WCP and spillover onto the surrounding local roads are evident of the severe strains on the checkpoint, and that the current infrastructure is not capable of handling even the current volumes.
4. ICA’s projected 400,000 travellers per day by 2050, a 74 percent increase from 2000, and 33 percent from today, will apply even greater pressure on WCP. The actual increases have outstripped ICA’s projections. If nothing is done, the travel time for vehicular traffic could increase by more than 60 to 70 percent during peak periods by 2050, from today.
5. A major redevelopment and expansion of WCP is, therefore, needed to solve the chronic congestion. The objective is to improve, and not simply maintain, traveller experience. Singaporeans deserve that. And we must also cater for additional buffers on top of our projections, to future-proof WCP even beyond 2050. This is to avoid frequent and reactive infrastructural adjustments which are costly, and disruptive to checkpoint operations, and ultimately, travellers.
6. ICA has conducted extensive feasibility and technical studies to determine the optimal amount of land needed for the expanded WCP to improve the current situation, and meet projected future traffic demands and evolving security needs. For example, we need more land and space to be able to move security checks of arriving vehicles further away from the town areas, so that if something untoward unhappens, there is less impact on Singaporeans and the rest of the checkpoint.
7. The additional space we will get through the expansion of WCP will also provide more holding areas to better contain traffic queues within the checkpoint, to reduce congestion spillover onto the surrounding local roads and inconveniencing Singaporeans who live and work in the vicinity. In addition, the redeveloped WCP will have more automated lanes, including for cars, to reduce ICA’s manpower needs, which is a very serious constraint.
8. ICA’s studies and redevelopment plans have been informed by projections derived from overall travel demand data, and not on the basis of specific traveller groups.
