[sustran] Delhi govt to redesign city roads at a cost of Rs.5, 000 crore

[Vinay Baindur]

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/LsGTmUeVYQD9Lgd7LvaSfJ/Delhi-govt-to-redesign-city-roads-at-a-cost-of-5000-crore.html

Delhi govt to redesign city roads at a cost of Rs.5,000 crore

Ten roads have been identified for a pilot project that will be completed
within a period of eight mon
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*PTI <http://www.livemint.com/Search/Link/Author/PTI>*
[image: PWD minister Satyendar Jain says major design flaws will be
identified for all roads and will be rectified accordingly. Photo: Ramesh
Pathania/Mint]
PWD minister Satyendar Jain says major design flaws will be identified for
all roads and will be rectified accordingly. Photo: Ramesh Pathania/Mint

*New Delhi:* The Delhi government has decided to redesign more than 1,200km
of roads in the capital at a cost of around Rs.5,000 crore, taking cue from
European cities to promote public transport, cycling and making streets
friendly for pedestrians and physically-challenged people.

Under the project, street furnitures including glass lifts, toilet blocks,
solar-powered streetlights and rain water harvesting system will be put in
place besides keeping space for hawkers and certain roads only for public
transport.

Talking about the ambitious project, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said
Delhi’s traffic problem is linked to flaws in design of roads rather than
space problem and his government was trying to rectify them. He said
designs of various roads will be different, depending on specific
requirements.

PWD minister Satyendar Jain said 10 roads have been identified for a pilot
project which will be completed within a period of eight months and then
all roads under Delhi government will be redesigned.

He said government feels majority of road space have been occupied by cars
across the city and that motorists constitute around 1.5% of the total road
users.

“Pedestrians and public transport are our major priority and if there is
space left, then it will be for motorists,” Jain said, in a lighter vein,
when articulating government’s plan for the project.

To improve public transport, Jain said, government would ensure buses at an
interval of 1-2 minutes at specific localities initially. He said major
design flaws will be identified for all roads and will be rectified
accordingly, while adding that building owners occupying footpaths was a
major issue.

Jain said trees will not be cut for the project and machines are being
bought by the PWD to shift the trees to other location if they come in way
of certain infrastructure. “We may have to keep certain roads only for
public transport as is done in many other European cities. We will install
street furnitures like lifts with glass panel, toilet blocks and rain water
harvesting system,” he said, adding vendors will be given specific time
slots to sell their products. *PTI*