The pedestrian’s perilous path

The pedestrian’s perilous path
Deccan Herald

With more and more roads becoming unidirectional in Bangalore and speeding made easier for the thousands of vehicles, life for a pedestrian has become a nightmare.

With more and more roads becoming unidirectional in Bangalore and speeding made easier for the thousands of vehicles, life for a pedestrian has become a nightmare. For the vehicle drivers and city planners, pedestrians do not seem to exist.

With increase in the speed limit from the earlier 28-30 kmph to 45-48 kmph or even up to 60 kmph on one-ways, foot-over bridges, subways, footpaths or cross signals appear to be the only way out for a pedestrian. But where are these saving graces?

Pedestrian crossings

Walk on any of the busy roads in the City like Nrupathunga Road, Richmond Road, Seshadri Road or KG Road, and you will either find a pedestrian crossing where the vehicles don’t stop or you will find none, forcing you to walk more than 500 metres to reach one and then cross the road.

According to traffic expert M N Sreehari, the distance between two pedestrian crossings should not be less than a kilometre. If not the flow of vehicles will be affected, he said. In places where pedestrian activity is less, the distance can be more, he added.

The situation is so bad that an exclusive association called the Bangalore Association for Pedestrians United (BAPU) has been formed to fight for their rights. “How can you expect aged people, those with health problems or women and children to walk long distances just to find a pedestrian crossing?” asks Govindappa Rangaiah, one of the founding members of BAPU.

There are no roads in the City which do not pose a problem for the pedestrian. In most areas of Ulsoor and Old Madras Road, footpaths are non-existent.

While the ones on Brigade and MG Roads are taken over by hawkers, there are others which are dug up often forcing the pedestrian onto the road and to brave the speeding vehicles.

And where traffic jams are frequent, vehicle users don’t think twice about encroaching upon the footpath.

The minimum specification for a footpath is a width of 1.5 metre onwards depending on the number pedestrians walking on it.

But rules are to be broken and this is substantiated by the one near Windsor Manor bridge which is big enough to fit just one foot.

“Footpaths should be built wide enough to cater to a minimum of 600 pedestrians per hour. In places like MG Road and KG Road, where there are nearly 2,000 to 4,000 pedestrians, the width can go up to three metres and more,” says Mr Sreehari.

There are around 13,380 junctions in Bangalore. The junctions at KC General Hospital in Malleswaram, Trinity Circle or Race Course Road do have pedestrian crossings. But in the absence of signals, the flow of traffic is steady and in most cases it flows from two directions simultaneously.

Caught in such places, all that the pedestrian can do is pray that the road will clear soon so that he could cross.

In places like Nrupathunga Road and in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office, traffic signals exist for namesake. Most times, vehicle users don’t follow these signals, forcing pedestrians to make a quick dash across. And who cares, especially when there is no policeman?

At junctions where there are signals, the time to cross is too short for the pedestrian – 15 to 20 seconds for a wide road. It’s then a test of his athletic capabilities at these junctions. It’s not one nor two, the woes of a pedestrian. Given this, it looks like a long walk for him across every road.

SKYWALKING IN THE CITY

The BMP plans to construct 46 foot-over bridges (skywalks) in the City at a cost of Rs 50-70 lakh per bridge. One foot-over bridge at Jayanagar 4th Block is complete and 3 to 5 more are coming up in various parts of the City. But sceptics wonder how many will use a skywalk to get to the other side of the road.