The Chennai Corporation has decided to redesign and develop footpaths in 249 bus routes in the city in the second phase of the footpath improvement scheme.
The decision to invite bids to redesign these stretches was taken at the meeting of Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) sub-committee for non-motorised transport on Tuesday. “The redesign will begin after topographic survey of bus routes is completed using LiDar, a special technology using light and radar. Encroachments on the footpaths on many roads will have to be removed first,” said an official of Chennai Corporation.
Work on footpaths in the first phase has been restricted to 71 bus route roads in eight zones of Tondiarpet, Royapuram, Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar, Anna Nagar, Teynampet, Kodambakkam, Alandur and Adyar. Most of the new granite footpaths in the first phase are two-metre wide. The major roads being covered in the first phase include Ethiraj Salai, Pantheon Road, Police Commissioner Office Road, Gandhi Irwin Road, Valluvar Kottam High Road, Sterling Road, Sterling Avenue, Tank Bund Road and Mahalingapuram Main Road.