In a bid to elicit people’s opinion on the proposals mooted for redevelopment of the beachfront in the city, the authorities have decided to put the draft in the public domain for a month.
At the fourth stakeholders meeting on the beachfront development here on Wednesday, suggestions were made on parking space, providing relief to beach road residents, making provision for buses and bus bays, regulating traffic to ease the snarls and creating a ‘no vehicle beach road.’
The beachfront redevelopment has been proposed to be undertaken with the World Bank aid under Andhra Pradesh Disaster Recovery Project.
A Master Plan for beachfront development and a detailed project report (DPR) will be prepared. Components costing ₹250 crore will be taken up from it for execution.
“The draft proposals will be put in the public domain for 30 days. Meetings will also be held with District Tourism Committee, heritage enthusiasts and resident welfare associations. But before they come on board, some concerns expressed by the officials should be addressed,” said Municipal Commissioner M. Hari Narayanan after the meeting.
In the plans, he said, all care would be taken not to violate the CRZ regulations, town planning norms. “Though there will be constraints pertaining to availability of space, the proposals would be executed without affecting the environmental parameters. All the views expressed during the project should be recorded and each aspect should be addressed,” he said.
Project details
Harsh Goel of the INI Design Studio explained about the proposed plans including three proposals for Ramakrishna Beach promenade space, opening up beachfront space for people at VUDA Park, designing integrated 10-km bicycle and pedestrian pathway from Coastal Battery to Rushikonda, redesigning of Tenneti Park with cycling track and creation of cycling track at Sagarnagar.
The proposals also include creating more pedestrian space, stepped promenade and boardwalk (on a wooden bridge closer to the sea), he said.
Replying to the issues raised by RTC and police officials at the meeting, Mr. Goel said an one-on-one meeting would be held to address the issues.
Superintendent Engineer Vinay Kumar said the plan should decide on how to decongest the Beach Road so far the traffic snarls were concerned and whether or not non-polluting vehicles could be used for some stretches.
Traffic survey
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic) K. Prabhakar wanted a traffic survey on weekends to assess the parking problems and rush. Residents of Beach Road should be involved in the stakeholders’ meetings, he suggested.
Deputy Chief Traffic Manager (Urban) M. Sudha Bindu pointed out the necessity of creating bus bays and parking space in view of the constraints in running buses to Beach Road during weekends and festive occasions.
