Pondy Bazaar pedestrian plaza design ready

The zone will be 1.4-km-long from Panagal Park junction to Anna Salai; plaza to feature wide footpaths with exclusive cycle track

An artist’s impression of the Pondy Bazaar pedestrian plaza. Photo: Chennai Corporation

The Chennai Corporation has finalised a blueprint for the proposed pedestrian plaza at Pondy Bazaar.

The pedestrian zone would be 1.4-km-long from the Panagal Park junction to Anna Salai.

A senior official of the Corporation said the plaza modelled on Rambla in Spain and Times Square of the U.S. was being executed as part of the Chennai Public Spaces Project. Under this project, Pondy Bazaar, a highly-commercialised zone with huge traffic and few facilities for the shoppers, would be converted into a pedestrian-friendly road.

The plaza would feature wide footpaths with coloured tiles and exclusive cycle track, even while maintaining the greenery already available.

The official pointed out that traffic on the road would be segregated into three stages and the bus lane would be earmarked in the third stage near the Panagal Park junction.

The total outlay for the project was Rs. 83 crore.

To a query about the World Bank direction to assess the environment and social impact of the project, the official said since the hawkers had been removed from the road, there was no hindrance to the project’s take-off.

The civic body had sent officials to Spain to study the model there.