Road Development

Three new ways to keep roads intact in monsoon

Wednesday, 22 January 2014 05:46 administrator

The Times of India 22.01.2014

Three new ways to keep roads intact in monsoon

PUNE: The civic body has given some serious thought to resurfacing the city's roads. Since many thoroughfares in the city crumble during the monsoon and angry citizens vent their ire against the civic body, the Pune Municipal Corporation, to maintain and enhance the quality of roads, has turned to several methods.

The civic body has completed work on roads in Gokhalenagar, Wakdewadi, Sahakarnagar, Bhusari Colony, Ideal Colony, Aundh-Baner, Ruturaj Society, Gultekdi and Parvati Darshan using the overlay method. It also plans to use a thin white topping method for another 77 km of roads by March 31.

"The civic body has to resurface tar roads every three to five years. Compared to the expenses incurred on resurfacing, the overlay method is more viable," said municipal commissioner Mahesh Pathak in his annual draft budget for 2014-15.

The PMC has two ways to concrete roads. In the overlay method, where the base is strong, concrete layers are directly laid over it. Where the base is weak, it is torn up, grouted and surfaced and then concretised.

Work on the 30-meter development plan road parallel to Baner-Balewadi highway and a 30-meter road in Kharadi have also begun. "The PMC has completed the road survey and identified roads which need immediate repair. The estimated cost for these repairs is Rs 38 crore. Roads in the city will be intact during monsoon if resurfacing and concreting work is completed before the rains," said Pathak.

The civic body has proposed the use of micro surfacing technology in 2015 to strengthen roads. "This technology helps maintain the quality of roads for five years after construction," said Pathak in his budget speech.

White topping

It is a cement concrete overlay to strengthen damaged bituminous roads

It improves the structural and functional capacity of roads

Very little stress is transmitted by the concrete layer to the pavement base and sub-layers

Micro surfacing

It is a polymer-modified, cold-mix paving system for streets, highways, and airfields

A special machine mixes the components and spreads the mixture on the road surface

The new surface is initially a dark brown and changes to black as water is chemically ejected

The surface cures quickly, permitting traffic within one hour

Road to be widened

Tuesday, 21 January 2014 05:25 administrator

The Hindu 21.01.2014

Road to be widened

Special Correspondent

The buildings obstructing the expansion of the main road at Anakapalle should be removed as the owners have agreed to withdraw cases in courts, Minister for Investment and Infrastructure Ganta Srinivasa Rao has said. The removal should begin as soon transferable development rights are handed over to the owners. The Minister held a meeting on Sunday with the District Collector, the Joint Collector and the Municipal Commissioner at Anakapalle.

BDA to begin work on PRR by Feb-end

Thursday, 09 January 2014 09:52 administrator

Deccan Herald 09.01.2014

BDA to begin work on PRR by Feb-end

With the Union Ministry of Urban Development giving its approval to the Rs 5,800-crore peripheral ring road (PRR) project, Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) hopes to commence work on the much-delayed infrastructure project in a month’s time.

BDA Commissioner T Sham Bhat on Wednesday said they aim to start work by February-end. “The project is before Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, for approval of funding from Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Once approved, tenders will be floated. Also, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah wants the construction work to start by March,” he said. Once the work gets underway, it will take 36-40 months for completion. Final notification for land acquisition has been issued and acquisition going on, he added.

According to BDA officials, a team from JICA is likely to visit the proposed project sites before the works start. The State Cabinet has approved the project and agreed to link part-1 of PRR to existing the NICE corridor. The NICE corridor which links Tumkur Road to Hosur Road via Magadi Road, Mysore Road and Kanakapura Road; was part-2 of PRR, according to BDA's original plan. The 65-kilometre PRR part-1, will connect Tumkur Road with Hosur Road via Doddaballapur Road, Bellary Road, Old Madras Road and Sarjapur Road. The BDA needs 1,910 acres of land for construction.

Bhat pointed out that farmers were agitated as they were not happy with the compensation schemes. Now, they should be satisfied as they have three options to chose from. They can either opt for developed land in the ratio of 60:40, or TDR or cash. But, monetory compensation is yet to be finalised.

Land losers agitated

However, PRR-1 Affected Families Welfare Association Secretary P Rajan questioned how the BDA can commence work on the PRR when there are 37 cases pending in the High Court. In 2010, the court had quashed 1.26 acre of land which BDA had acquired for construction of toll booth, he added. Associationpresident S Shankar said BDA has changed the alignment many times, only to please the influentials.

Thane Municipal Corporation plans to bridge gaps in city

Thursday, 09 January 2014 07:29 administrator

The Times of India 09.01.2014

Thane Municipal Corporation plans to bridge gaps in city

THANE: The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) is planning a high capacity mass road transit project to connect various parts of the city.

The project will ensure a seamless commute by a six-lane road that could be a mix of surface and elevated one passing through several areas of the city. The areas that could be connected by this route are Thane railway station east, Kopri, crossing over the tracks at Anand Nagar, Teen Hath Naka, Nitin Company, Laxmi Park, lake in Pokhran, Chitalsar-Manpada, then crossing over the Ghodbunder Road through Swastik Complex, Balkum, crossing old Agra road to reach Thane jail along the creek side and then crossing over the tracks to reach Kopri.

The stretch would provide dedicated two lanes on each side for private vehicles and the middle lanes could be used as bus corridors in the future. Also, space could be made for development of metro or mono rails along the median considering future growth and requirements.

"The plans are currently in the conceptual stages. If implemented, it could ease commuting woes," said city engineer K D Lala.

Further boosting the public transport usage among citizens, the entire corridor of around 20 kms could have landings at around 16 spots that could also serve as hubs where citizens could get feeder bus or auto services for accessing internal areas of the city. A plan for developing a multi-level car parking at these spots for those taking public transport services can also be planned, said a civic official.

However, the project is likely to be affected because it involves a lot of resettlement-rehabilitation as a sizeable area already under encroachment in addition to some section of the route coming under the Coastal Regulation Zone possibly delaying or trashing the plans, said an official from the public works department.

Experts and activists have criticized this plan and insisted the TMC first do a reality check of what the city actually needs. Activist Chandrahas Tawade said he has already approached several authorities in the past regarding seamless connectivity in the city. Activist Milind Gaikwad said that better coordination between agencies could also help the city to a large extent. "Residents should be taken into confidence when the authorities plan projects for a city like Thane. Not only can the authorities get instant support from the locals but they can also share some suggestions as they will be the end users of any such developmental project," said Gaikwad.

MCG asked to rework Old Delhi-Gurgaon road revamp plan

Thursday, 09 January 2014 07:10 administrator

The Times of India 09.01.2014

MCG asked to rework Old Delhi-Gurgaon road revamp plan

GURGAON: The state Urban Local Bodies department has asked the MCG to rework its detailed project report (DPR) on the redevelopment of the Old Delhi-Gurgaon Road. It has asked the corporation to make certain changes and include utilities like signboards, streetlights and horticulture in the report.

According to the DPR prepared and submitted to the Urban Local Bodies department for approval, Rs 61 crore was to be spent on the redevelopment the 7.8-km-long road, used as a major alternative to the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway which usually sees massive traffic during peak hours. According to a source, the department was not happy with the report as it didn't take into account utilities like signboards and issues like beautification of the road. They said preparing a new DPR will delay project.

"The four-lane road running parallel to the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway will have six lanes. The 7.8-km stretch from Dundahera (Delhi-Gurgaon border)

to Mahavir Chowk is being widened at an estimated cost of Rs 61 crore. But now that the ULB department has asked us to revise the reportand add few other things, the project cost will go up along with the deadline," said a senior MCG official. "The department has asked us to include in the DPR the cost that will be incurred to install signboards on the road stretch, besides beautifying it. We will talk to the engineering and horticulture departments to figure out the cost before revising the DPR and sending it to Chandigarh," the official said.

The road is in a bad condition with part of it dug up to lay sewer pipelines. The stretch that remains dug up houses offices of MNCs on both the sides, with the commuters taking at least half an hour to cross it near Dundahera. It seems like the MCG has turned a deaf ear to the traffic police's repeated requests to speed up the pipe laying work on the road stretch.

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