The Hindu                     07.04.2013

Koyambedu market gets 7.46-acre paid parking lot

Motorists can hope for a relatively less-congested ride around the Koyambedu market area in the coming weeks.

On Friday, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) opened a new parking lot adjacent to the biomethanation plant. Several lorries, omni-buses and other vehicles that enter the congested market area will be allowed to park in the 7.46-acre open space, for a fee.

The Koyambedu Market Management Committee has identified a contractor and handed over the space to the private entity. Heavy vehicles that require extended stay in the market will be parked in the new facility. Unauthorised parking on the roads is likely to attract severe punishment.

Talking about the new facility, the contractor, Parminder Singh Anand, said 400 vehicles could be parked at a time in the new facility. On an average, 1,500 lorries and other heavy vehicles come to the market every day, bringing in vegetables, fruits and flowers.

Many of these heavy vehicles are parked in a haphazard manner in the vicinity of Koyambedu market leading to heavy traffic congestion during the day. Counters have been set up at the entry and exit points of the new parking area. In addition to the new facility, other initiatives to ease traffic congestion in Koyambedu were introduced this week.

The CMDA, on Friday, also issued a Rs. 20-crore work order for another double-level basement parking facility at the mofussil bus terminus. Over 3,000 motorcycles and 50 cars can be accommodated in the facility, which will be commissioned in a year.

A new link road connecting A Road and E Road will be constructed to facilitate free flow of traffic, an official said.

“More than 99 percent of work on the makeover of roads and drains in the market complex has been completed,” the official said.

The market committee is implementing the work which includes creation of new stormwater drains, widening of roads and concretisation of a 350-metre road connecting gates 7 and 14 that are used by heavy vehicles.

A slew of such efforts are expected to ease congestion in the market which witnesses over one lakh visitors a day.

The Hindu                      29.03.2013

New bus shelters in added areas soon

Staff Reporter 

Bus stops in newly added areas are likely to get new bus shelters.

Initiatives to this effect were recommended by the subcommittee on infrastructure improvement and promotion of non-motorised transport of the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) at its third meeting on Thursday.

A study of all lacunae in the existing bus route infrastructure such as bus shelters will be done by Chennai Corporation with the support of MTC. The meeting was chaired by the Corporation Commissioner.

The civic body is likely to overcome the existing “legal challenges in finalising tenders” this summer and work on bus shelters is likely to be completed in many of the bus stops by monsoon.

There are more than 2,000 bus stops served by the MTC, but around 1,000 bus stops do not have adequate shelters. The lacunae are mainly because of the challenges pertaining to authorisation of the bus shelters by the land-owning agencies of bus routes. Most of the bus route roads are owned and maintained by the Chennai Corporation and the bus shelters too have formally been handed over by the MTC. Yet only around 1,150 bus shelters are found to be under the control of the Corporation across the 15 zones.

A chunk of the bus shelters are under litigation. The proposal to commission 642 modern bus shelters made last year too has been stalled because of legal hurdles and inadequate response from contractors.

The Corporation had earlier authorised Laqshya Media to install modern bus shelters at 99 locations of which the company has completed work on 72. The company has put up the facilities on a BOT basis for a period of 10 years. It would pay the civic body a little over Rs. 2 crore every year. Chennai Corporation sources said work on 27 bus shelters could not be commissioned because of traffic diversions for metrorail work in the city.

The sub committee on Thursday also stressed the need for “green signal” from Traffic Police to implement pedestrian plaza around Omandurar Estate and Mylapore Tank.

The declaration of pedestrian plaza will also require traffic changes and new locations for many bus stops.

Study of existing bus route infrastructure will also be conducted.