Road Safety Park @ East Coast: Abandoned and Forgotten

Have you been to the Road Safety Park @ East Coast Park?

Road Safety Park  - A part of history

The Road Safety Community Park was opened in 1981. Interestingly, it is not the first Road Safety Park in Singapore. The first Road Safety Park was set up at Kallang Park in 1961 to address the issue of increasing Road Accidents.

The park at Kallang was eventually closed for the construction of the National Stadium, and the Road Safety Park was relocated to East Coast in 1981. This 4 ha park (about 8 football fields) featured miniature roads and 'buildings' when it opened. Targetted at Primary Schools, I remember the days when we had visited the park as part of school activities. 

Source: Singapore Police Force FB

Back then, students were destined to be pedestrians, motorists riding pedal cars or biking on bicycles. There were also demerit points given for any violations during the session!

The current status

Overhead Bridge at Road Safety Park

This park was set up to teach the younger ones about road safety. Today, it is an abandoned park. While it is open to the public and easily accessible, it was relatively quiet when we were there. The last sign of planned activities there was probably around mid-2010.

Abandoned Shell Petrol Station

A sign of it being abandoned would be the stripping of the iconic Shell petrol station. A year or two ago, the logo was still visible. Now, it is an empty shell. So if you are looking for a spot to film a zombie apocalypse in Singapore, this is a great place to do so.

Where are you going?

What happens next?

Empty Roads

The park remains open, and there is no gate to deter visitors. When we were there on a Sunday morning, there were hardly any crowds save for a handful of construction workers. While the physical structure looks abandoned, the roads look usable. If you have younger kids who wish to learn to ride a bike, cycling around this deserted place might be a different kind of adventure. 

As for the future, there has yet to be any news about what will happen to this park. It is probably sitting on state land and is not slanted for redevelopment on the Master Plan for East Coast. With the Long Island project in the pipeline ( a land reclamation of East Coast Park), it may be abandoned until the project is confirmed. If you want to visit a spot where time stood still, this is it.

Getting there

There is a carpark in front of the Road Safety Park

If you prefer to walk, you can access the area via the beachside near East Coast Park White Jetty or via an underground that connects to Amber Road

The location