HYDERABAD: THE Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) is soon going to build a skywalk with a pedestrian corridor and a commercial complex at Mehdipatnam. It would be 380-metre-long and 3.5-metre-wide. According to HMDA, the design considers the two local roads - Asif Nagar Road and Gudimalkapur Road (that branch out from the Inner Ring Road). The aim is to provide pedestrian connectivity from the Military area side towards the commercial and residential areas that exist near these local roads. The bus terminal and the oval junction are the two points of interest.
Vertical connectivity towards the skywalk or boardwalk would be through a glass enclosure which consists of a staircase and a lift. The project is estimated to cost `34.28 crore. This skywalk will help pedestrians cross the roads without inconvenience. This project includes an elevated pedestrian corridor and a commercial building including 16 elevator lifts. Principal Secretary for Municipal Administration & Urban Development (MA&UD), Arvind Kumar tweeted on Wednesday: “Mehdipatnam finally gets pedestrian skywalk (to cross over one of the most congested roads) & - 380 metre steel skyway plus 16 lifts including two in Rythu Bazaar.” In his tweet, he also informed that MA&UD Minister KT Rama Rao has approved the designs and HMDA will soon call for bids.
Shifting bus stops, hawkers
As part of this project, bus shelters will be redesigned. The site for the proposed skywalk abuts the PV Narasimha Rao Flyover. It includes an above-ground retail activity. A series of bus stops on the military side and a bus terminal at the commercial side bring in a lot of pedestrian flow. People crossing the Inner Ring Road face risk of accidents. Fruit hawkers who have encroached the bus bay under PVNR Expressway would be removed for free flow of traffic.