Mangaluru: A special purpose vehicle set up to implement Smart City projects in this coastal city. Broad footpaths with smaller carriageway, pronounced difference between the carriageway and footpaths, strategically placed bollards as seen in the TenderSure Roads constructed by BBMP in Bengaluru, will be replicated her, said Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner.
Following a dictum that future urban development will necessarily have to be people and not vehicle centric, the district administration in tandem with MSCL is developing plans for the smart roads that will be implemented in the central business district area of the city. The smart roads include the stretch from Clock Tower to A B Shetty Circle and the road connecting Circuit House to NH junction at Padua in front of Kadri Park and AIR station.
Admitting that urban development thus far has blindly catered to a burgeoning number of vehicles, DC Sasikant Senthil S, also member, board of directors of MSCL, says the time has come for a strategic course correction. “How long can a civic body go on expanding roads to accommodate vehicle population? Where is the space or funds to facilitate such expansion,” he says, adding the smart roads will lay down the blueprint for people-centric roads.
Broad footpaths, at least 3 metres to 4 metres wide and at least 20cm higher than the carriageway is being envisioned to ensure vehicles do not use the footpath as a parking space, thus forcing pedestrians to use the carriageway to commute, he said. Bollards will be placed at the edge of the footpath to prevent two-wheelers from parking there, he said. “The broad footpath will ensure that people can walk without bumping into each other,” he adds.
Cycle tracks too will be made an integral part of the smart road design with an additional lane planned on the AB Shetty Circle stretch to promote cycling, Senthil said. “Discussion is on with Mangaluru City Corporation and MSCL to ensure that road development in the city will give motorists and pedestrians equal share of the city’s road network resources and also strengthen public transport to cut down on vehicle use,” he noted.