With effect from Sunday, 6 March 2016, SBS Transit Bus Service 32 will skip a portion of Margaret Drive as a section of the road will be permanently closed. As a result, the route will be amended to serve Kay Siang Road and Tanglin Road before rejoining its original route.
Bus Service 32’s new routing will serve six existing bus stops along Kay Siang Road and Tanglin Road. The four bus stops affected by the route amendment serve only Bus Service 32, and will be abolished along with the route amendment.
Formerly an unbroken two-carriageway road, Margaret Drive was realigned by around year 2011 to join up with a widened Kay Siang Road that leads to Tanglin Road. A signalized junction was also constructed with Dawson Road, along which a pair of bus stops were built to replace two that were removed with the road realignment. While that left the old section of Margaret Drive broken off, it continued to be served by Bus Service 32.
When Kay Siang Road opened, it was built with two new pairs of bus stops. These four bus stops remained unused until the introduction of SBS Transit Bus Service 122 in March 2015, which will be joined by Service 32 from Sunday onwards. A sheltered walkway connects Kay Siang Road and Bus Stop 10311 (Opp Queenstown Sec Sch) along the old Margaret Drive for the benefit of residents and students.
In the future, the section of Margaret Drive from Dawson Road to Tanglin Road will be expunged. It will become an ecological corridor where existing mature trees will be kept as much as possible to provide ample shade and retain urban biodiversity. The first phase of works involving the realignment of Margaret Drive and Kay Siang Road was completed by around mid 2011. The completed Margaret Drive will connect precincts with sheltered and barrier free paths.
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