Chennai Corporation to develop non-motorised transport routes

It has started identifying locations for construction of underpasses and footpaths. Residents have demanded underpasses to improve connectivity for pedestrians and cyclists between neighbourhoods on either side of the rail tracks and arterial roads

The Greater Chennai Corporation will start designing and constructing non-motorised transport routes in the city. Non-motorised transport routes and footpaths will be developed in all regions, especially in the school zones. “Emphasis is being laid on developing non-motorised transport routes and infrastructure,” says an official.

The civic body has started identifying locations for construction of underpasses and footpaths to facilitate the development of non-motorised transport. Residents have demanded the construction of underpasses to improve connectivity for pedestrians and cyclists between neighbourhoods on either side of the rail tracks and arterial roads.

Haphazard parking

Anna Nagar West resident and Madras High Court advocate S. Ilamuhil says residents who are concerned about the environment have demanded the construction of non-motorised transport on stretches like Padi Kuppam Road. “Our road suffers from haphazard parking that hinders the movement of pedestrians. Non-motorised transport requires regulation of parking along roads,” he says. Councillor Parithi Elamsurithi points to the need for connecting schools around Doveton at Purasawalkam with non-motorised transport for the safety and security of students.

Lack of coordination

Urban planners say the lack of coordination between the Corporation and the police has disrupted the non-motorised transport infrastructure in the city. For instance, the wide footpaths and the cycle-sharing station, developed a few years ago at the junction of Pantheon Road and Langs Garden Road at Egmore, has been encroached upon by a police booth created without consultation with the engineers who designed the footpaths, bollards, and cycle-sharing station. The purpose of such a project has not been fulfilled because of encroachments by private entities and government agencies.

K. Kumar, Visiting Faculty, Department of Planning, School of Architecture and Planning, Anna University and former Chief Planner, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), says the Second Master Plan (SMP) for the CMA, under implementation since 2008, has spelt out the transport strategy, including non-motorised transport, for the city. It is based on a Comprehensive Transportation Study for Chennai (CCTS). “The transport strategy encompassed a sub-strategy for non-motorised transport. A statutory document, the SMP is binding on all agencies concerned with urban transport. Incorporating a policy on non-motorised transport in 2019, the Corporation expressed its commitment to promote non-motorised transport. Most schemes designed and implemented to improve the mobility of pedestrians by way of quality sidewalks, including on roads in T. Nagar, Egmore and Purasawalkam, are in bad shape after the initial success. These are usurped for unauthorised parking or abused by the shops, or the pavement is in disuse,” he says.

‘A moot point’

“The inception of the Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority for Chennai (CUMTA) itself is essentially born out of the SMP. Once the CUMTA is in place, it is logical and legal that all urban transport policies flow from it. Whether the CUMTA has put in place any specific urban transport policy for the metropolis since its inception, let alone one for non-motorised transport, is a moot point,” he says.

“Any urban transport infrastructure scheme must be in step with the framework of the SMP and the CUMTA. Whether the schemes implemented so far or being implemented now are green mode-centric or car-centric is anybody’s guess. To cite an example, the quality sidewalk on Anna Nagar II Avenue Road being infringed upon by parked cars on top of the kerb-lanes on either side of the arterial road earmarked officially (or unofficially) for on-street parking.”

“In sharp contrast to the fact that every developed city in the EU, stung by the urgency to roll back emissions, is bent on redeeming road space for pedestrians or public use, the arterial roads here are widened and resurfaced frequently at a whopping cost only for cars to park. Thus, the commitment of the metropolis to the Climate Action Plan is questionable,” Mr. Kumar says.

Vital post vacant

Once the SMP became operational, its macro policies and programmes were reviewed periodically by thematic committees chaired by the CMDA vice-chairman, in the rank of Chief Secretary, giving direction to the agencies for implementation of the SMP. For example, the implementation of the cycle track in Anna Nagar proposed in the SMP catering to more than 40 schools in the area was taken forward by the committee on traffic and transport. The Corporation re-sectioned the carriageway of arterial roads in Anna Nagar in 2010 to accommodate the proposed cycle track. Unfortunately, it hasn’t seen the light of day even after 15 years. “Non-posting of a full-time vice-chairman since 2011 has really affected the smooth implementation of the SMP. Even now, critical policies and programmes of the SMP remain unimplemented, owing to this setback,” he says.

It is appropriate nonetheless to study the traffic circulation during school opening and closing times and draw up a traffic management plan for each school area. It can address the students coming to school by foot or cycle and provide for parking of cycles on the school premises or on streets by reorganising the cross sections of the roads. The sidewalks must have adequate width in compliance with IRC norms. If the traffic on the abutting road is significant, restricting the road width for vehicular traffic and installing student/pedestrian-actuated signal (known as pelican signal) can be examined, he says.

The CMDA installed pelican signals for the first time through the Greater Chennai Traffic Police in 2005 in 10 school zones. Nobody knows their fate now. The CUMTA must live up to the purpose for which it was established so that there is positive synergy among all agencies involved in urban transport. The Tamil Nadu government can also make a course correction by posting a full-time vice-chairman for the CMDA in the context of the impending Third Master Plan, Mr. Kumar says.

Published - September 29, 2024 11:33 pm IST