City roads to get high medians

City roads to get high medians
The BBMP and traffic police have identified major roads in the city where high medians will be put up to manage traffic better and improve safety, says Leena Mudbidri


The increasing traffic on Bangalore's roads has made it virtually impossible for pedestrians to cross safely. Incidents of road accidents have increased when they could be prevented. With a view to providing safety to school children, pedestrians and commuters, and reducing the accident rate, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Bangalore Traffic Police (BTP) have together put a road safety plan in place. This plan will include equipping the roads with new street safety features such as road humps and medians, restoring existing features and doing away with unsafe obstructions such as unauthorised or damaged humps and medians.
At a recent Traffic Review Action Committee (TRAC) meeting chaired by the BBMP Commissioner Dr S Subramanya, the focus was on future planning for road safety measures where all arterial, sub-arterial roads and accident-prone highways would be appointed with a host of safety features such as high rise medians, speed breakers and raised pedestrian crossings. A list of the roads, a stretch of total 63 km, which are to be appointed with road safety features has been prepared by the BTP and jointly inspected by the BBMP Traffic Engineering Cell officials and the traffic police for speedy implementation.
According to a BBMP engineer, Bangalore will be the first city to implement this expansive road safety plan on par with world standards, and will adhere to the norms set by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH). The road works will be prioritised according to the traffic density report made by the BTP.
High medians
The BTP has suggested that instead of a difference in median heights presently existing on the city's roads, a uniform median height of around 1.5 feet will prevent both pedestrians and twowheeler riders from crossing over and causing accidents. The total work length proposed on the medians is 132 km. The high medians will be of three types - pre-cast blocks medians, RCC medians and grilled medians.
Pre-cast blocks will be used to repair existing or damaged medians of half foot height at an estimated cost of Rs 119 lakhs. The grilled medians or railings will be of four feet height for a stretch of 65 km at approximately Rs 24 crores.
Each RCC median block will measure 50 metres in length, 1.5 feet in width and 2.8 feet in height. These medians will be fixed over a stretch of 50 km at an estimated cost of Rs 13.60 crores. Each median block will be connected through an expansion joint and will have two drilled holes of 10 cm diameter to facilitate the insertion of rods for advertising material.
Speed breakers or
humps
The BTP has identified 389 locations in all the three BBMP zones for the construction of these speed breakers or road humps. In order to help drivers identify road humps in the dark, it was proposed to provide sufficient lighting with sodium vapour lamps and markers.
Raised pedestrian
crossings
The BTP has identified 384 locations for providing high raised pedestrian crossings especially in places of recurrent accidents and at all important bus stops to give the pedestrian the right to cross the road first. At present, works on 55 raised pedestrian crossings are in progress at a total cost of Rs 52 lakhs.
Prof C E G Justo, Chairman, Traffic Action Committee, and a scientist, who is part of the TRAC, suggested the use of scientifically-designed and engineered raised pedestrian crossings to be implemented at places where road humps were not designed the scientific way.
Least traffic obstruction
In order to cause least inconvenience to pedestrians and commuters, the work on these road safety features will be executed in the night, says a BBMP official.
Deadlines and tenders
The Commissioner of BBMP has set a deadline of two months from the date of the meeting held last month. This means that the work will be expedited on a warfooting and should be completed by September end, according to BBMP sources. However, inclement weather conditions and delays in the tendering process could hinder the adherence to this schedule.
The tendering process is on and should be completed in a fortnight to zero in on the contract to the bidders. One of the conditions placed before the bidders is the work should be set rolling as soon as the contract is in place.
However, the BBMP officials say the response from bidders has been poor and therefore the process of tendering could be delayed.
Roads with high medians
South Mysore Road South End Road Vani Vilas Road Bull Temple Road Chamarajpet 5th Main Road Shankarmutt Road Hayavadana Rao Road Subbaramashetty Road Diwan Madhava Rao Road Kanakapura Road South Cross Road Lalbagh West Gate Circle K R Road R V Road Jayanagar - 11th Main Road, Anebunde, Diagonal Road, 40th Cross, 36th Cross 5th Block - 10th Main, Swimming Pool Road, Swagat Main Road, 4th T Block,18th Main Rd J P Nagar - 24th Main, 8th Main, 45th Cross Kanakapura Main Road Uttarahalli Main Road Konanakunte Cross Outer Ring Road - Banashankari Temple, upto Yelechanahalli bus stop Banashankari temple to Hunnasemara Junction Hunnasemara Junction to Shivram Karanth Road Junction Athimabbe Road Girinagar 80 feet Road Sevakshetra to 9th Main Chennamma Circle to Katriguppe Junction
North P F Road M K K Road Vatal Nagaraj Road West of Chord Road Dr Rajkumar Road Vidyaranyapura Main Road Outer Ring Road near Hebbal New BEL Road RT Nagar Main Road B B Road Jayamahal Road D B Pura Main Road Near Mother Dairy Circle (Yelahanka) FTI Circle MES Ring Road Tumkur Road CMTI Junction to FTI Junction C V Raman Road Peenya 100 Feet Road Hesaraghatta Main Road HSR 100 Feet Road BTM 100 Feet Ring Road Dr Marigowda Road Madiwala Main Road HSR 14th Main
East Wind Tunnel Road Near Marathahalli Bridge Varthur Main Road Basavanagar Main Road CMH Road J B Nagar Main Road Halebayyapanahalli Road Indiranagar - Kalpalli Road, 80 Feet Road, 100 Feet Road Old Madras Road Sundaramurthy Road Pottery Road Hennur Main Road Kalyan Nagar 80 Feet Cross Bagaluru Ring Road Banaswadi 100 Feet Road Nagavara Main Road Outer Ring Road St John's Church Road Cubbon Road Mahadevapura Ring Road Swami Vivekananda Road K R Puram Junction Near K R Bridge Near Devasandra Junction Horamavu Junction Pai Layout Junction Richmond Road Trinity Road Ulsoor Road Cambridge Road
West LPT Road Seshadri Road Tank Bund Road Sagar Junction Gubbithotadappa Road N R Road Marenalli Road R P Layout Havanur Circle Basaveshwar Nagar 15th Main Rajajinagar entrance Basaveshwar Circle Chandra Layout Junction K B Cross Kengeri Township Ring Road Mysore Road Hosaguddadahalli to Christian Cemetery Magadi Road
Central Cubbon Park Junction Lavelle Road Museum Road St Marks Road Mission Road SJP Junction Old Post Office Road Raja Ram Mohan Roy Road Palace Road Platform Road