Ask road users what improvements they would like on a priority basis and the answers are likely to be more road signs, parking spaces, rest rooms and safe pedestrian crossings. While these remain pressing requirements, there is often far more that can be done to improve commuters’ experience.
With a view to deepening the understanding of the needs of road users, a Road User Satisfaction survey to find out what else motorists want will be carried out soon by the Highways Department through the Tamil Nadu Road Sector Project (TNRSP), which recently called for tenders for a consultant for the survey.
There are a total of 62,000 km of roads under the control of the Highways Department. Nearly 4,500 km of them are with the National Highways Authority of India and 50,000 km of roads under various local bodies.
“Based on the length of roads in each district, the consultants will prepare a set of questions and interact with drivers of commercial vehicles and various associations. We ask users to compare the quality of roads, including the smoothness of road surface, traffic flow, noise and air pollution levels and safety aspects and get suggestions for improvements,” said a source in the Highways Department.
Widening of stretches
Presently, TNRSP-II is being implemented at an estimated cost of ₹1,800 crore. Around 400 km of roads are being widened. Roads of two-lane width would get upgraded with paved shoulders and curve corrections too would be taken up. Three stretches — the Tirunelveli-Tenkasi road; Oddanchatiram-Dharapuram road and the Gobichettipalayam road — are being upgraded under the public-private partnership mode. The survey is mandatory as part of the TNRSP and the last one was done in 2011, during which most users said that the National Highways were better when it came to quality of road surface and traffic flow. “Another survey would be carried out towards the end of the TNRSP II,” the source said.
