On the east of D.B. Road, starting from the Cowley Brown Road junction the Coimbatore Corporation has cordoned off a portion to create bicycle track.
Sources said the civic body had placed bollards to demarcate 2m space and marked the space with paints for cyclists to use the lane. At present the demarcation was on an experimental basis to study the impact and make changes, if necessary.
If the Corporation found the experiment successful, it would make the track permanent by making permanent interventions.
After demarcation of the 2m bicycling track, around 7m was available for motor vehicles, including buses, and the intervention in no way reduced the availability of carriage way.
D.B. Road was a residential road-turned commercial street but it was definitely not a thoroughfare, the sources said and added that the intervention would in no way affect traffic.
In fact, the Corporation had worked with the Coimbatore City Traffic Police before demarcating the cycling track. It had also requested police personnel to man the place as it had received complaints of motorists using the track.
The sources further argued that the stretch demarcated for the track was a place that was already cordoned off by the police to prevent road users from parking on the eastern side. Therefore, there was no actual reduction in the width of the carriageway.
Further, once the Corporation completed the multi-level car parking project to throw it open for parking vehicles, the place now occupied for parking vehicles – the west side of D.B. Road – would also be available for road users.
As for the bicycling track, the sources said the Corporation hoped to study its impact for about three months before making the next move.
