Stretches along the Metro Rail route will have wide uninterrupted footpaths, which will greatly benefit senior citizens and persons with disability.
Following suggestions from the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority’s sub-committee on infrastructure and non-motorised transport, the Chennai Corporation has asked the Highways to start a study on identifying the ‘missing links’ in the footpaths of Jawaharlal Nehru Salai along the Metro Rail alignment. Other stretches, those found on 471 bus routes, will have similar facilities once work on laying wider footpaths along Jawaharlal Nehru Salai is completed.
“Over 60 percent of pedestrians walk in the carriageway, blocking vehicular movement. In the new footpath design that is being finalised by architects, the footpaths are 2.5 metres wide,” said an official.
The Highways Research Station and NGOs will assist the civic body and Highways in implementing the project.
“A survey of eight roads – Mayor Ramanathan Salai, Egmore High Road, Rukmani Lakshmipathi Salai, Adithanar Salai, Langs Garden Road, Gandhi Irwin Bridge Road, Dams Road and Binny Road – that lead to the Egmore Railway Station has been conducted to improve the pavements there. The Corporation will soon float bids for construction of footpaths there,” the official said.
The Corporation has also planned to hand over 26 footpaths to CREDAI for maintenance. CREDAI will replace the broken bollards on these footpaths.
Modern zebra crossings with coloured thermoplastic reflective paint will be in place on 194 bus routes. The civic body has identified an alternative design for pedestrian facilities on narrow roads. Owing to a lack of space for pedestrians on most of the 343 roads near Metro stations, the Corporation has decided to form interlocking pavements that will facilitate sharing of space by pedestrians as well as vehicles.
Work on creating pedestrian infrastructure for a heritage walk in Mylapore that has been delayed due to a request by the police for a wider carriageway will begin soon. The Chennai Corporation has been trying to make footpaths wider based on the non-motorised transport policy. Concerned about increasing congestion, the traffic police had been objecting to the wider footpaths. A revised proposal will be cleared by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department.
