Pedestrian first

REVAMP ON CARDS PWD to provide pedestrian crossing after every 300 metre, promote public transportation in city

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has decided to redesign over 50 km lanes across the Capital in order to make them friendly for pedestrians and physically-challenged people, and to promote public transport.

To begin with, the government has chosen 10 arterial roads as a pilot project. PWD minister Satyendar Jain said on Saturday that work on the pilot project had already begun and would be completed in eight months. Depending on the success of the pilot project, all roads under the Delhi government would be redesigned.

Jain said the major thrust under the project would be to redistribute the available road space for pedestrians, cyclists, non-motorised vehicles, public transport and private cars — with priority being in that order.

Under the project, the government plans to provide street furniture, foot overbridges with combination of glass lifts and staircases, toilet blocks, solar-powered streetlights and rain water harvesting system, besides keeping dedicated space for hawkers on footpaths, which would be widened and made seamless by removing all obstacles.

The government plans to earmark certain roads only for public transport, while others could be deemed one-way for reducing congestion and better traffic management, PWD minister Satyendra Jain said.

“Delhi’s traffic problem is about flaws in design of roads rather than space problem. Majority of road space has been occupied by cars and motorists. Pedestrians and public transport are our major priority,” Jain said.

The PWD minister said they chose only 10 roads for the pilot project because initial assessment suggested that successful implementation of the project would ensure 70 per cent of the city would be covered under halfmile connectivity from a vibrant public transport.

“Once phase-III of Delhi Metro’s expansion is completed, 40 per cent of city residents would be under half-mile connectivity. Similarly, if these ten road projects taste success, the percentage would increase to 70 percent,” Jain said.

Consultants to prepare road map and public feedback

Jain said the government had decided to hire consultants who would conduct a survey of the ground situation. Designs of various roads will be different, depending on specific requirements.

“As of now, the ITDP is providing suggestions pro bono, but we have started the process of hiring consultants who would do the survey and prepare specific guidelines for different roads,” Jain said.

Once the blueprints are prepared, the department would put it in public domain for feedbacks from the local residents. The valid suggestions would be incorporated for implementation.

PEDESTRIAN IS SUPREME

The minister also stated that the government wanted to ensure that the footpaths are wide enough for people to walk comfortably, besides improving the aesthetics of the streets by providing street furniture and dedicated space for street vendors.

“There needs to be continuity when it comes to designing footpaths. We already have street designing guidelines on that front prepared by UTTIPEC. When it comes to crossing the roads, pedestrians want a crossing facility at the shortest possible distance. We plan to provide a pedestrian crossing facility every 300 metres,” Jain said.

RAINWATER HARVESTING AND LANDSCAPING

Instead of making efforts to channelize the storm water into drains, the experts are of the view that providing water harvesting units beneath the green area and the road medians would be a better way to channelize water into the ground. The authorities have also decided not to cut down any trees during the landscaping exercise. Instead, the trees would be shifted to closer locations as required.