#singaporeroads
#whatsinthiernames
#toponymics
In these webseries, we learn about some names of Singapore roads and streets. Why are they named such? Is there a reason behind it? Toponymics is the study of proper names of places, their origins and meanings.
Episode 1 introduces
(i) The development of Singapore from naming in 1299, founding of modern Singapore in 1819 to independence in 1965 and to present.
(ii) The authorities behind road naming
(iii) Categories of Roads (please refer below)
(iv) Categories of Road Names (please refer below)
(v) What to expect in the upcoming episodes. Roads named after countries, cities or famous people? Or how are they rare, unusual or interesting?
Conceptualized, researched, written, narrated, filmed and edited by Kevin Raja.
Music: KZread Audio Library and Ben Sound.
Under the Land Transport Authority (LTA), the types of roads in Singapore fall under five major categories.
Category 1 Roads (Expressway, Parkway, Highway)
At the top hierarchy of Singapore roads are the expressways and semi-expressways (highways), connecting, in Singapore’s context, between new towns or the city area. Expressways are urban motorways designed for high speed vehicular traffic, with no or few traffic light controlled junctions.
There was also the Bedok Highway, built by the Public Works Department (PWD) in the mid-seventies, that linked Upper Changi Road to East Coast Parkway. The name, however, lasted only a couple of years before the Committee On Street Names, after consultation with the Housing and Development Board (HDB), decided to change it to Bedok South Avenue 1.
The East Coast Parkway is the only expressway in Singapore named parkway.
Category 2 Roads (Boulevard, Avenue, Way)
The Category 2 refers to the major arterial roads in Singapore. They are named boulevards, avenues and ways, and are typically designed in dual carriageways with a physical median between opposite lanes.
Avenues, on the other hand, are broad roads flanked by buildings and trees. During the eighties and nineties, the main arterial roads within the new towns, such as Ang Mo Kio, Bukit Batok, Chua Chu Kang, Jurong East, Jurong West, Tampines and Yishun, were named avenues.
Initially called Queen’s Way, the two words in its name were combined as one, making Queensway one of the few streets in Singapore without any street suffixes.
Category 3 & 4 Roads (Drive, Road, Street)
Category 3 and Category 4, made up of drives, roads and streets, include the minor arterial roads as well as roads used for primary access. In general definitions, a street is a public road with buildings on both sides, while drives are long winding roads with routes shaped by nearby mountain or lake.
Category 5 Roads (Walk, Lane, Link, etc)
The Category 5 consists of secondary roads, minor roads and roads mainly used for local access, which can be single way or dual carriageway of only one or two lanes, without any physical median.
The category is made up of different types of street suffixes such as link, lane, loop and walk. Link refers to road linkages, while close is used for cul-de-sac or dead end roads (which practically is not always true). Loop, crescent and ring typically mean curved roads, whereas a circle is a long curved road that connects from one end to the other end of an estate. Walk is usually used for wide public pedestrian walkways, but in Singapore context, it is also used for minor roads that are for local access.
Road names:
1. 6 categories
• road names with a prefix (generic element) followed by a specific element;
• road names with a specific element followed by a suffix (generic element);
• road names that include acronyms;
• road names that consist only of a single word;
• road names with the definite article "the" followed by a specific element; and
• road names without any prefix or suffix (generic element).
2. English-derived generic elements
• Alley
• Avenue
• Bank
• Boulevard
• Bow
• Business Park
• Central
• Circle
• Circuit
• Circus
• Close
• Concourse
• Court
• Crescent
• Cross
• Crossing
• Drive
• East,
• Estate
• Expressway
• Farmway
• Field
• Garden/s
• Gate
• Gateway
• Grande
• Green
• Grove
• Height/s
• Highway
• Hill
• Industrial Park
• Island
• Junction
• Lane
• Link
• Loop
• Mall
• Mount
• North
• Park
• Parkway
• Path
• Place
• Plain/s
• Plaza
• Promenade
• Quay
• Ridge
• Ring
• Ring Road
• Rise
• Road
• Sector
• Service Road
• South
• Square
• Street
• Terrace
• Track
• Turn
• Underpass
• Vale
• Valley
• Viaduct
• View
• Vista
• Walk
• Way
• West
• Wood
Please watch the upcoming episodes and subscribe, like and give your comments. Thank you.