The non-motorised transport policy of the city could have stopped short of improving the cycling facility but has earned kudos from national and international stages for the pavement infrastructure works.
A senior official of the Greater Chennai Corporation said walkers form the predominant population, mainly for short distances, and the priority was to give wider and safer pavements free of any hindrance such as encroachments and parking of vehicles.
The Corporation had received five national awards and one international award for the pavement project. The senior civic official said that having completed pavements on 108 bus route roads, footpath development work was in progress along 70 arterial roads, stretching for 94 km, at a cost of around ₹100 crore. The pavement widening and beautification work was completed on 108 bus route roads covering Gandhi Irwin Road, N.S.C. Bose Road, Kamarajar Salai (in Marina), Pantheon Road, Anna Nagar 4th Avenue, Purasawalkam High Road, Kodambakkam High Road and Greams Road. The pavement project was executed under Tamilnadu Urban Road Infrastructure Project (TURIP) funds for over 200 km.
The pavement-friendly project, which is audited by the Disability Rights Alliance, has been envisaged with various specifications for providing ramps in all building entrances and shifting of all utilities such as electricity junction boxes and transformers which act as hindrances. To avoid parking or riding of vehicles on the pavements and cement concrete bollards were being fixed across the entire length of the pavement, he said.
