H-TRIMS to herald good times for pedestrians

H-TRIMS promises 8 seconds to walkers to cross the road

For long, motorists have had a monopoly over Hyderabad’s roads, with pedestrians being ‘obstacles’ to traffic flow.

However, the traffic police promise the situation would soon take a turn for the better as new signalling systems come up under the Hyderabad Traffic Integrated Management System (H-TRIMS).

Pedestrians will have a window of eight seconds during each signal cycle to cross the road, once the new signals are synchronised under H-TRIMS, Additional Police Commissioner (Traffic) Amit Garg said. During this period, traffic from all sides will stop with an all-red signal.

Apart from this, work is on road engineering aspects to provide pedestrian-friendly infrastructure. ASCI Junction and Sagar Society Junction will be developed as model junctions. After taking note of the practical difficulties here, the model would be rolled out in other junctions too.

“We are in touch with civic authorities and have earmarked the areas to build pedestrian refuges and other attended infrastructure. They would be operational once the H-TRIMS signal system comes up,” Mr. Garg said.

Median width

Traffic police have also identified junctions and areas that need improvement.

“Large dividers, medians and separators might look good when there is ample carriageway, but when the road size is compromised, these islands, however green they are, will only act as further obstructions. We are in the process of removing or reducing their width to facilitate traffic movement,” he pointed out.

Metro rail officials and the civic authorities have already reduced the width of median at the Rasoolpura junction, and have created a free-right turn for the motorist coming from the Hyderabad Public School side.

“Traffic management is a continuous process and we are constantly monitoring the situation on ground to tackle any situation as it comes into the fore,” Mr. Garg added.