CHENNAI: A 500-metre stretch of the Khader Nawaz Khan Road from the Uttamar Gandhi Salai junction has been redesigned into a pedestrian-first public space by the Greater Chennai Corporation and was officially launched on Thursday. This is the second such pedestrian-focussed commercial stretch executed by the civic body after T Nagar’s pedestrian plaza.
While the vehicular flow on the stretch is not restricted now, sources said it may be converted into a fully-pedestrianised infrastructure in the future. As of now, the cobblestone paving is expected to slow down vehicular movement to create a safe space for those on foot. However, parking in the stretch has been barred with regulated provisions only for pickup and drop off. Visitors can park their vehicles in the city corporation’s paid off-street parking facilities nearby.
The project, falling under the ‘Complete Streets’ programme, makes use of large portions of space on the street which were earlier used for unregulated parking and other underutilised spaces to make way for accessible walkways, street furniture, bollards and sitting areas. The underground utilities — cables, storm water drain, drinking water supply, etc — have been bundled into a utility duct, to reduce the need to dig up the road for repairs.
A survey by ITDP India, GCC’s technical knowledge partner for the project, carried out before the project was initiated, registered 200 pedestrians per hour using the stretch during morning peak hours and 350 per hour in the evenings. “The redesign of KNK Road follows an open-mall approach, where the street is designed to make people want to spend more time there. With wider footpaths and shaded seating, people can walk, sit, and relax comfortably, and are more likely to visit nearby shops. Over time, this will benefit both the local economy and the community,” said A V Venugopal, program manager, ITDP India.
‘Pedestrian-inclusive spaces in six areas soon’
As the next step, pedestrian-priority streets are to be implemented in 1-km of Monegar Choultry (MC) Road in Royapuram zone, 0.9-km stretch of the Race Course Road in Adyar zone, a 2.4-km stretch of Thiruvottiyur High Road and Arunachaleswar Koil Street in the Tondiarpet zone, 1.6-km of Pulla Avenue in the Anna Nagar zone, 1.2-km of Shastri Nagar 1st Avenue and 0.8-km of Race Course Link Road in the Adyar zone.
The plan is to interconnect these streets through another 200km of footpath to enable continuous walking infrastructure. It is presently in the final stages of design, according to ITDP.