[sustran] Adviser red flags foot over bridges - Punjab

Asija, Navdeep navdeep.asija at gmail.com
Fri Feb 5 12:05:25 JST 2016


Feb 05 2016 : The Times of India (Chandigarh)

Vibhor Mohan
Chandigarh:
`Don't Meet Pedestrian Volume'
Punjab's traffic adviser has pointed out that foot over bridges (FOBs) have
come up in the state at places where pedestrians are not prone to accident
or find movement on roads difficult and thus, there is need to put an end
to the practice.

The findings are based on a survey in Mohali, where four-foot bridges have
been put up at a cost of Rs 2 crore spent, but are in no way helping the
cause of pedestrians. In fact, these structures don't meet even the
pedestrian volume or traffic safety criteria.

Traffic adviser Navdeep Asija says in his advisory note, “Results (of the
report) revealed that present foot over bridges are actually facilitating
uninterrupted movement of the motor vehicle and not helping the
pedestrians.“

The report on `Safe Road Pedestrian Infrastructure in Punjab' says that in
2014, 339 pedestrians lost their life in urban areas of Punjab. But the
attempt made by many cities to offer a solution with foot over bridges is
turning out to be “unscientific, expensive and ineffective way to solving
the problems“.

“Pedestrians need to be facilitated via at-grade facilities by installing
traffic-calming devices such as speed tables and traffic islands by
reducing the speed of motor vehicles at critical points rather pushing them
to use grade separated foot over bridges,“ it adds.

Quite contrary to the idea of facilitating pedestrians by installing
traffic calming de vices such as speed tables and traffic islands to reduce
the speed of motor vehicles at critical points, it was found that present
foot over bridges is forcing pedestrians to cover 5-10 times longer
distance with up and down movement to cross the same stretch of the
road.“During the pedestrian traffic volume studies over four days, it was
found that utilization of such wrongly planned infrastructures for
pedestrians is almost zero,“ adds the report.

In case of Mohali particularly, the study found that over the last three
years, 21 pedestrian deaths were reported at 21 different locations within
the municipal limits, but foot over bridges are constructed at place where
they were not desirable. In fact, Mohali becomes the first of its kind city
in the country , where foot over bridges are constructed at a traffic
signal, where it is much easier to cross via zebra crossing, the study
says.It notes that another road safety hazard is being created by
installing advertisement on the railing of FOB facing motorist near traffic
lights. It is also felt that such undesirable infrastructure may add threat
to the personal security of women and children, especially during early
morning or night hours when there is less traffic on the roads.“Outdoor
advertising devices on the face of these foot over bridges are not only
distracting drivers but also block visibility of traffic lights at the
intersection,“ adds the report.

Besides, such underutilized over bridges are becoming hubs for anti-social
activities, especially before sunrise and after sunset.

In the advisory note sent to the technical adviser to CM and chief
administrator GMADA, Asija has said, “It is advised that in future, *kindly
avoid such inadequate and expensive infrastructure to the name of
pedestrian safety .“*
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