The Times of India            13.12.2013

Town planning department to survey traffic and pedestrian volume

MALAPPURAM: As part of preparing a detailed development plan for Manjeri town, the town and country planning department will conduct a detailed traffic and pedestrian survey. The survey, which will chiefly assess traffic and pedestrian volume, and its impact in town development, is expected to start in the last week of December.

Traffic congestion in Manjeri has been an issue for some time now and which major traffic revisions had failed to resolve. The survey will be conducted as part of the department's efforts to prepare master plan for seven municipalities, including Manjeri

. "The survey will have five major segments, including vehicle volume, pedestrians, speed and delay tests, parking and origin-destination (OD) survey. The survey works would be carried out by external agencies," said the deputy town planner of Malappuram, Kaja Sharafudheen.

While the vehicle volume survey will assess the rush along various routes, at different times and the type of vehicles, the pedestrian survey will focus on pedestrian movement in major junctions. Available parking area and future parking facility projects would be studied in the parking survey.

Sharafudheen said the survey will help reach conclusions regarding bypass requirement, problems at junctions, pedestrian needs , specific issues during peak hours,

etc. He said authorities can depend on the survey data while implementing temporary traffic regulations in town and while announcing new traffic systems. Recently, the authorities had to revise the traffic system for buses in town, thrice with the latest system also triggering protests from commuters and bus operators.

Meanwhile, the process of preparing master plan for the development of Malappuram, Manjeri, Ponnani, Kottakkal, Perinthalmanna, Tirur and Nilambur towns, is underway.