Perils all the way for pedestrians

Perils all the way for pedestrians
Deccan Herald

The simple act of crossing the road has become more of an adventure in the City. The one-ways and speeding vehicles all over the city have made things difficult for pedestrians.

They have a much more harrowing time using the bigger roads such as K G Road, Residency Road, Richmond Road, J C Road and Nrupathunga Road.

The entire length of K G Road has crossings only at the beginning, at the Avenue Road intersection and at the other signal before the other end of the road.

Nrupathunga Road has a couple of signal stops that are apparently meant for the benefit of walkers, but this happens only fitfully. The road should have gadgets like the one on Queen’s Road which walkers can use to bring traffic to a halt by pressing a button.

To add to their woes, even pedestrian crossings at traffic junctions do not provide any relief. Many traffic signals in Bangalore allow not more than 10 or 15 seconds for pedestrians to cross.

Because of the brief duration people who are disabled or aged find it very stressful to cross roads.

Elevated foot-over-bridges (FOBs) placed strategically and with provisions for the disabled might be helpful.

Last year’s budget of the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) talked of building 50 subways or FOBs with Rs 80 crore being earmarked over three years.