Work over, pedestrian plaza awaits CM’s date
CHENNAI: With the work on it completed, the officials of the Greater Chennai Corporation – and also the public – are eagerly awaiting Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami’s date to inaugurate the first pedestrian plaza at T Nagar.
“Works on the pedestrian plaza have been completed and we ready to open it for the public. We are expecting to inaugurate the plaza on or before November 5, based on the Chief Minister’s appointment,” a Corporation source said.
The civic body took up the pedestrian plaza project on Thyagaraya Road in T Nagar at a cost of Rs 33.80 crore under the Smart City Mission, and works had begun in May 2018. The civil work was over a few weeks ago, while the beautification works were completed a few days ago.
When asked a senior official on how and when the traffic regulations would come into effect on the pedestrian plaza, the official said that the regulations were delayed due to Deepavali festival and the shoppers’ crowd in the area.
“After Deepavali, we will decide on traffic regulations, which includes finalising the entry and exit to the Thyagaraya Road,” the official added.
The Chennai Corporation had decided to create the pedestrian plaza in order to promote non-motorised transport and build wider pedestrian pavements to promote walking.
Once the plaza is inaugurated, the civic body would not allow vehicle parking on the road. Instead, it has taken up redeveloping 14 side streets along the road to house vehicles of shop owners, employees and customers.
Earlier, the Corporation had removed all the garbage bins from the road to convert the stretch as a bin-free stretch. As part of this, 251 bins were removed from the pedestrian plaza and waste are being sent for recycling and composting.
Once the pedestrian plaza is opened, the civic body has planned to conduct cultural events such as dance and music, apart from art competitions.
The Corporation is already conducting music events at the city parks at the backdrop of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) including Chennai in its creative cities project under music category.