CHENNAI: The city corporation will study the possibility of building four new flyovers and five pedestrian subways, mayor Saidai Duraisamy said, while presenting the civic body's budget for 2013-2014 on Monday. Feasibility studies would be done to check the viability of the projects.

One flyover is planned at the TTK Road-St Marys Road-Chamiers Road junction near Hotel Park Sheraton to reduce congestion. Flyovers have also been proposed at Arcot Road-Kaliamman Koil Street junction near Koyambedu, at Kodambakkam High Road-Thirumalai Pillai Road-Valluvar Kottam High Road junction in Nungambakkam, and at Madhya Kailash junction in Adyar.

Pedestrian subways have been proposed under N S K Salai near Meenakshi Engineering College, and near Vadapalani bus depot, on Kamarajar Salai, at Dr Radhakrishnan Salai junction and on Purusawalkam High Road.

The Alwarpet flyover is likely to be right-angled, beginning on Chamiers Road turning left on to TTK Road and ending at St Mary's Road junction. The junction connects commuters from RA Puram, Adyar, OMR, Guindy and beyond to Nungambakkam, Chetpet, Anna Nagar and beyond. It is also an alternative route from central Chennai to the airport when Anna Salai is jammed.

The flyover at Madhya Kailash junction was suggested in 2007-08, but had to be dropped because CLRI refused to give up land. The new one is likely to begin at Thiruvi-ka bridge and run to Kotturpuram bridge, over Buckingham Canal. This removes the problem of land acquisition. A flyover will be built from Arcot Road to Kaliamman Koil Street, which connects Koyambedu with Kodambakkam. The fourth at Valluvar Kottam is likely to be three-armed and allow commuters from Dr MGR Salai to drive to Thirumullai Pillai Road directly.

The four new flyovers will be in addition to the 13 existing ones and four more that are coming up. The corporation proposed seven flyovers last year, of which three were shelved due to metro rail construction and inability to find consultants. The other four are on track.

However, transport experts do not believe that flyovers are the solution to traffic congestion. "Creating space for private motor vehicles is a never-ending problem," says Shreya Gadepalli, regional director of Institute of Transport and Development Policy. "Any flyover will get overwhelmed in a few years," she said.

Commuters welcome the opportunity to skip a signal. "I pick and drop my children at AMM school. If I don't have to share road space with commuters going to Alwarpet I can save time," said Jayashree P, a resident of Greenways Road.

CHENNAI: Chennai may soon have its own Times Square or Covent Garden — pedestrian areas in which motor vehicle movement is restricted.

Shopping in T Nagar or taking a walk around the Kapaleswarar temple in Mylapore is likely to be peaceful as the corporation plans to allow only cycles and pedestrians in parts of these crowded areas. Wallajah Road and Sivananda Salai are the other places likely to have restricted vehicle movement.

"Pedestrians have been ignored while making plans for development of the city. Pedestrian and cycle-only zones will give them safe spaces,"said Chennai mayor Saidai Duraisamy, while announcing the proposal in the corporation budget for 2013-14 on Monday.

The other often ignored lot — cyclists — also have something to cheer about. The corporation plans to introduce a bicycle-sharing programme this year like the ones in London and Paris.

Cycles will be kept at bus stops, railway stations and corporation offices on a 7km stretch along the Marina. People can pay a user fee to take the cycle from one place to another. The cycles will be a feeder service for the mass rapid transport system.

To make roads safer for cyclists, the corporation has proposed a cycle track from Fort Station to Foreshore Estate. "Cycles are one of the most eco-friendly means of transport. But we pay less attention to cyclists when we build our infrastructure,"said a corporation official.

Shreya Gadepalli, regional director, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, calls it a great initiative. "Cycle sharing is spreading like wild fire in many countries including China. Paris has 20,000 cycles, London about 5,000. Chinese cities such as Hangzhou and Guangzhou have about 50,000 and 6,000 respectively. If it can work there, it can work here,"she said. Bangalore and Pune have tried the system.

Officials haven't yet worked out the cost or the number cycles required, but experts say 7km would require at least 1,500 cycles. "We need a cycle station every 300m,"said Gadepalli.

Officials said they conducted feasibility studies and concept tests. "We are drawing up a detailed final plan. We know that we will collect refundable deposits from people to maintain the cycles and prevent loss,"said a senior corporation official.