The Times of India     18.03.2016 

In road-laying mode, civic body pushes safety out on the wayside

Chenni: Laying a smooth road, the city corporation seems to think, is
enough. Most of the interior roads it has laid, or is in the process of
laying, ahead of the election do not have the speed-breakers to sensure
that they are safe.

The new roads, say experts, encourage
motorists, particularly two-wheeler riders, to zip across at high
speeds, putting other road-users at risk.

Arun Ramasamy should
know. The 41-year-old was recently proceeding serenly on a glass-smooth
road to Madipakkam, to visit a friend, when a biker smashed into his
two-wheeler at an intersection.

“There was a blind turn ahead and
the biker, without slowing down, rode straight into me,” said Ramasamy,
now confined home with a ligament tear and fractures on the right leg.

Earlier,
many interior roads, including in Ram Nagar where Ramasamy was hit, had
stony sirfaces that ensured vehicles did not move fast. “Now every
intersection is a possible accident- zone,” Ramasamy said.

Urban
planners say simply black-topping roads is not enough. Corporation
engineers need to be educated on the nuances of road engineering.
Interior roads require several ‘traffic calming’ measures. “Some
speed-breakers need to be introduced to slow down traffic,” said former
professor of urban engineering at Anna University K P Subramanian.

“Roads
should have wider footpaths that, with speed-breakers, will ensure that
motorists do not speed or are discouraged from doing so,” Subramanian
said.

“Corporation engineers need to move away from the school of
thought that a road belongs only to motorists. Roads should be shared
among pedestrians and cyclists as well,” he added.