The Hindu             21.10.2013

Pedestrian is king

The seven Central Business District (CBD) roads of Bangalore that have been identified for upgradation under Tender SURE project will not only feature cycle lanes, but also accord “very high priority for pedestrians”.

In the wake of the State Cabinet’s recent decision to upgrade the roads in the heart of the city at a cost of Rs 78.83 crore under Tender SURE, Mayor B.S. Sathyanarayana said the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) would soon float tenders to invite bids.

“The pedestrian is at the heart of the plan under Tender SURE,” said urbanist V. Ravichandar, who is an executive committee member of Bangalore City Connect Foundation (BCCF), which prepared the detailed project report (DPR) for upgrading the roads.

In the hierarchy of road users conceived under the project, pedestrians are followed by cyclists and public transport, which is acknowledged as the necessary mode of sustainable mobility, and lastly private vehicles. “Traditionally, pedestrian lane (footpath) width allotment is based on what’s possible after the motor vehicle needs are taken care of.

Another trait of city roads is the varying width for motor vehicles depending on land availability. Under Tender SURE, the motor vehicles get lanes of uniform length of around three metres throughout the road stretch. The surplus land area is used to provide islands, bus bays, hawker zones, etc.

The Mayor said there would be no deviation from concept of Tender SURE while upgrading the roads. “Also, all roads will be asphalted”, he said.

No road cutting

Meanwhile, referring to the road cutting menace, which has become rampant across the city, Mr. Ravichandar said the Tender SURE design provides for underground ducts for various utilities saving the huge expenditure incurred on maintenance and repairs.

He said the storm water drains are planned alongside the roads and the guidelines suggest cylindrical drains over the traditional box drains.

Under Tender SURE, all utilities are part of the apex project team and the tender is a unified one where there will be a lead contractor (roads and footpath) with sub-contractors specialised in laying utility lines.

Mr. Ravichandar said the first experiment with Tender SURE project was carried out during the 2009-10 upgrading of 300 metres stretch of Vittal Mallya Road, which has now become one of the best roads in the city.

The New Indian Express               08.10.2013

Kochi Mayor Tony Chammany at the five cents of land that was handed over to the Corporation on Monday, where the construction work of the link road has started | Express Photo

The five cents of land which were proving to be a barrier for the development of the Link Road connecting Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium and Thammanam Pulleppady Road was finally handed over to the Kochi Corporation on Monday.

With this, the authorities will be able to provide 22 metres to the entire stretch between the Stadium and Karanakkodam Junction on the Thammanam Pulleppady Road. The Corporation authorities have been trying to make a deal with the landowner Deenu Vincent since 2000. After the High Court order that the land should be acquired only at a premium price, the authorities held several meetings, following which the landowner had agreed to give the land on a mutual transfer basis. In return for the five cents of land that they acquired, the Corporation authorities will give 4.5 cent of land owned by the civic body at Pipeline Road near Elamkulam.

“With this, another pathway will be opened, parallel to the Palarivattom-Thammanam stretch and the Kaloor- Kathrikkadavu Road. When the stadium will host international games, traffic can be easily diverted through the new road. Though the remaining portion of the stretch was widened to 22 metres, it did not give the desired results, owing to the delay in handing over the land, mayor Tony Chammany said. The land was officially handed over to the Corporation at a function held near the stadium on Monday. The mayor received the title deed from the landowner. Deputy Mayor B Bhadra, standing committee chairpersons T J Vinod, Soumini Jain, Ratnamma Raju, councillors Gracy Jospeh and Agy Teacher, among others, were also present at the land hand overing function.