'Forget one-ways, introduce off-street parking'

'Forget one-ways, introduce off-street parking'
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: Even as the traffic police is toying with the idea of converting more city roads into one-ways to add to the existing 60, a traffic expert and engineer M N Sreehari begs to differ.

Strangely, he is the adviser to the transport department whose services the police use.

The city’s roads have been built to support seven lakh vehicles. But today a whopping 24 lakh vehicles ply its roads. This has inevitably put the existing infrastructure under much strain.

For instance, the capacity of a single lane (3.5 metres of road) in Bangalore is presently as low as 2,000 Passenger Car Units (PCU) an hour. This can be increased three-fold by introducing off-street parking, says M.N. Sreehari, professor at M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology and Chairman, Traffic Engineers and Safety Trainers (TEST).

In an interview with this website's newspaper he said one-ways were only ‘‘cosmetic’’ solutions. ‘‘There are low-cost and simple alternatives that can ease congestion and provide permanent relief,’’ Sreehari added.

The professor, who is also a consultant for the traffic and transport departments, said, ‘‘Optimal use of road space is a lasting solution. And to achieve this, parking on roads should be completely banned,’’ he points out.

‘‘The root of the congestion problem is the fact that there is either one-side or both-sides parking on more than 90 percent of Bangalore roads today. Parking requires half to two-thirds of the road space. Haphazard parking worsens matters. Unless the Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) rules are strictly enforced and building basements are cleared of encroachments for parking, congestion on the roads will remain,’’ the professor added.

As an additional measure, open areas like the Central College grounds should be identified and used for parking in congested areas like Gandhinagar. Completing the multi-tier parking lot projects that have now almost been abandoned would also be a lasting solution.

The other permanent solution is the creation of bus-bays for BMTC buses and dedicated lanes for all buses on the left side of the road by demarcating 15 percent of the road space.

Sreehari also suggested that the police should eliminate traffic islands to have faster vehicular movement. ‘‘Traffic often piles up at the 35,000 junctions in the city because clearance is slow. Removing large circles which are often in the centre of roads will widen the road and vehicles will pass through the junction faster,’’ he added.