Pedestrian Underpasses a big failure in Banglore

BANGLORE: Pedestrians' needs are ignored by authorities in their quest to build sophisticated transport systems. As a result, accidents involving walkers are becoming common. Hence there is urgent need to improve pedestrian environment in each area.

City roads are becoming pedestrians' nightmare. According to figures, 1,628 people had been crushed to death on city roads since 2007.

Nearly 8,000 survived with injuries. Disappearing pavements, non-existent pedestrian bridges, faulty signage, absence of zebra crossings and footpaths and rash driving are the main causes of pedestrian deaths.

The ongoing work of Namma Metro and other infrastructure projects, the lack of foresight on the part of the BBMP and other utility authorities should also be blamed for the alarming number of pedestrian deaths. Pavements are removed or broken up at different places due to Namma Metro and other projects.

A lot can still be done for ensuring the safety of pedestrians. But first we need a traffic policy which should include the following:
- Provisions for pedestrians like skywalks, wide footpaths and underpasses.
- Strict enforcement of traffic rules by motorists such as obeying speed limits, yielding to pedestrians at zebra crossings and traffic signal compliance.
- Sidewalks/pavements should be continuous along both sides of a street and accessible to pedestrians, including those in wheelchairs.
- Guard rails should be provided to segregate moving vehicles and pedestrians and also to discourage encroachments by street vendors. Parking of vehicles on footpaths should be treated as an offence.
- Marked crosswalks to indicate locations for pedestrians to cross and to help motorists to yield to pedestrians.
- Crosswalk markings should be proposed at all arms of intersections and at major high pedestrian volume locations like educational institutions, hospitals and commercial centres.
- Pedestrian underpasses allow for uninterrupted flow of pedestrian movement, separated from vehicular traffic. They should be set up at selected locations which have high concentration of commercial establishments and pedestrians.

The only problem with underpasses is that hawkers occupy and dirty them. The authorities should identify alternative area for them to do business.

The underpasses at Hebbal, Ganganagar, Chalukya Hotel junction, Martha Hospital and Raj Bhavan Road have turned into pools of stinking, mosquito-infested slime and remain unused or underused. Many underpasses have been reduced to public toilets. When it rains, it becomes difficult for people to wade through the stinking slime. These structures have also become shelters for beggars and are not safe for pedestrians, especially during night. They have become hubs for illegal activities. BBMP should maintain these underpasses well.

Underpasses are failures. A lot of money was spent on them. They occupy a lot of space and it is difficult to maintain them. Hence, the BBMP has decided not to go in for such infrastructures any more. It is now eyeing skywalks which are expected to generate more revenue.

source:http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/BAN-pedestrian-underpasses-a-big-failure-1744898.html