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Singapore is an internationally known Garden City. Trees can be seen and felt along every road, from the city to the outlying areas. As Singapore develops and progresses, it becomes increasingly important that its sense of identity in the physical landscape is retained. One way to do this is to conserve some of the more scenic and significant tree-lined roads in Singapore.
NParks therefore initiated the Heritage Roads and Heritage Tree Schemes in 2001. As mature roadside trees constitute the backbone of the Garden City, we will conserve the unique tree-scapes along some of the roads in Singapore, designating them as Heritage Roads.
In many locations, the green ambience and mature trees that line the Heritage
Roads are a result of more than 40 years of care and growth. If mature trees
are felled, these precious assets will be lost. It would take a very long time to redevelop or recreate the mature tree-scape. In some situations, the existing natural wooded ambience cannot be recreated to its original condition. The preservation of Heritage Roads will add an element of permanence to the landscape which will contribute to Singapore's sense of identity, history and continuity.
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Arcadia Road
Start: Junction with Adam Road
End: Arcadia Road End
Distance: 918 metres
Nestled amid the secondary forest near MacRitchie Reservoir, Arcadia Road is a short scenic avenue lined with mature Rain trees, just a quick drive from the hustle and bustle of the city centre. It skirts pass Adam Park Estate, which was built for the civil servants of the then colonial government, and not far from the Bukit Timah Golf Course at Sime Road. Before the Pan Island Expressway was constructed, Arcadia Road was a gentle curving track between the neighbouring hills and connects to the numerous country pathways behind the Eng Neo private estate, towards the direction of the former Turf Club. It now affords to residents and visitors alike a quiet rustic atmosphere under the shady canopy of the Rain trees.
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Mount Pleasant Road
Start: Junction with Denham Road
End: Pan Island Expressway Sliproad
Distance: 1353 metres
This beautiful road curves its way through a hilly area of the same name. Mature Saga trees along the roadside and wild sown trees like cinnamon, palms and figs fronts the garden fences of old black-and-white bungalows. These houses were built for the families of the Police Force officers during colonial times. The tall large trees now form a shady canopy that shelters the visitor from the searing afternoon sun. An early resident, a Mr G. H. Brown owned the estate (Makepeace et al, 1921) in the 1860s and lived in a house called Mount Pleasant on the hill of the same name. One can only imagine the soothing views of the hill from his residence. Part of the property had been called Bukit Brown, possibly after Mr Brown, and cemetery grounds now cover the hilly slopes along Lornie Road.
Makpeace, W.,e Brooke, G.E. & Braddell, R. St. J. (eds) (1921) One Hundred Years of Singapore, Singapore, Oxford University Press, Vol. 2, pg 557.
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Mandai Road
Start: Opposite Upper Seletar Reservoir Car Park
End: Junction with Mandai Avenue
Distance: 1084 metres
Mandai Road is an old carriageway in the northern part of Singapore. Constructed in 1855, the road served as one of the main links between Woodlands and Upper Thomson, connecting the agriculture and poultry farming villages in the region such as Bukit Mandai, Sungei Mandai and Nee Soon Village. The Heritage Road segment stretches along Upper Seletar Reservoir to the junction with Mandai Avenue. Flanked by the rows of mature Rain trees with their widespread canopies and surrounded by verdant vegetation of the secondary forest, a trip along this stretch of Mandai Road is always a pleasant experience.
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South Buona Vista Road
Start: Before Junction with Stockport Road
End: Junction with Vigilante Drive
Distance: 1066 metres
South Buona Vista Road was constructed before World War 2 and, as its name suggests in Italian, offered elevated views of the sea from the descending slopes as one drives down from the ridge. It was also on this ridge that the forces from the Malay Regiment led by Lt Adnan, fought the famous battle of Pasir Panjang in February 1942. This road was laid through the high ridges of Kent Ridge Park to provide passage from Dover to Pasir Panjang Road. South Buona Vista Road’s notorious curves are flanked by the hilly forest edges of Silver Backs, Acacia, Tembusu and Tiup Tiup brush, with Pelong Trees, Kelat Nenasi, Salam and Yellow Flame trees planted along the winding road.
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Lim Chu Kang Road
Start: Junction with Sungei Gedong Road
End: Junction with Ama Keng Road
Distance: 1780.5 metres
Lim Chu Kang Road was built before the 1900s to serve the gambier, pepper and rubber plantations dotting the northwestern countryside. As its rural population grew, the road became the main connection between the villages and the city-bound roads of Choa Chu Kang and Bukit Timah. The stretches at Ama Keng and Thong Hoe Village were once lined with single and two-storey residences and shop houses. These shops provided for the everyday needs of the rural community. Attap and zinc-roofed homes were scattered along this beautiful road sheltered by the mature roadside Angsana and Broad Leaf Mahogany trees. Rubber trees, Simpoh Ayer and the Common Sendudok form the thick shrubbery along much of the rural segments of the road. The road is identified and gazetted as a Heritage Road to retain the lush vegetation and the old kampong ambience of bygone days.
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