SPEED BREAKERS COME UP BEFORE UNDERPASSES TO STOP WATER INFLOW
GURUGRAM: To combat water flowing into underpasses and keep a check on speeding vehicles, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) recently built three speed breakers at Hero Honda Chowk, Medanta and MG Road underpasses. The speed breakers have been constructed at the entry and exit points of all these three underpasses.
Officials of the highways authority said the speed breakers have been made on the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority’s (GMDA) recommendation.
“Last year, water flowed into the Hero Honda Chowk underpass because the drains on this stretch were not properly connected. The drains were linked by GMDA later, but state government officials asked if we can make speed breakers to stop the flow of water into the underpasses,” a senior NHAI official said.
The NHAI had submitted its report on flooding in the Hero Honda Chowk underpass in 2018 to GMDA and cited reasons like drains not being connected and underpasses being built on a slope. “The speed breakers were made to combat this issue and check speeding vehicles,” an NHAI official said.
Speeding vehicles have also been another persistent concern for authorities. Sarika Panda Bhatt, programme coordinator with Haryana Vision Zero (HVZ), said, “We had asked NHAI to make speed breakers as the traffic was moving in the underpasses at high speeds. If NHAI has not placed signboards saying that there is a speed breaker ahead, they should do so.”
However, road safety experts object to speed breakers being made at underpasses to stop water flowing in. S Velmurugan, head of the traffic engineering and road safety division in at Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), said, “At any point, speed breakers cannot stop the flow of water inside the underpasses. The best a speed breaker can do is slow down traffic, but not restrict water from flowing into the underpass duct. Additionally, if speed breakers are not painted with white strips, they can be a major cause of accidents.”
Experts instead that the NHAI clean existing drains. Sudhir Krishna, former secretary, urban development, said, “Flooding in underpasses happens only when drains are not clean. NHAI should clean all drains before the onset of rains and not depend on speed breakers to bail them out when it rains heavily.”
Safety experts also said NHAI could have made steel plate barriers with slopes instead of speed breakers. “It seems the highways authority has not consulted anyone before making the speed breakers. They should have ideally made steel plate grilles so that water could flow in the drains and there wouldn’t be any flooding,” Krishna said.
The NHAI could also have installed rumble strips, road safety experts said. “Rumble strips are provided at places where speed control is unavoidable in highways and arterial roads. The raised section should be 20mm to 30mm high, 200mm to 300 mm wide, and spaced out about one metre away from each other. Rumble strips act as a deterrent to stop vehicles from moving at high speeds,” said Velmurugan.
Just like rumble strips, speed tables is another other option to check speed in underpasses. Professor Sewa Ram of School of Planning and Architecture said, “Like rumble strips, speed tables can also be installed inside the underpasses with a little gap in between. These tables are slightly raised from the surface of the road and forces a driver to slow down.”
ROAD SAFETY EXPERTS OBJECT TO SPEED BREAKERS BEING MADE AT UNDERPASSES TO STOP WATER FLOWING, INSTEAD SUGGESTING RUMBLE STRIPS OR SPEED TABLES