A burgeoning Bengaluru’s need: Pedestrian-friendly roads

Between 2017 and 2020, walkers accounted for 37% of road fatalities
Bengaluru’s roads give more priority to vehicles | Express
Bengaluru’s roads give more priority to vehicles | Express

BENGALURU: Presently, the city roads aren’t pedestrian-friendly including the footpaths and foot over bridges. “People walk on roads leading to accidents and deaths”, said B R Ravikanthe Gowda, Joint Commissioner, Traffic. The road should be a shared resource between pedestrians and vehicles.

The most vulnerable sections are children. Some schools are located on the roads and the gates of these educational institutions open directly to the road. Moreover, there are no parking spaces. Along with the traffic police department, the education department and schools should come together to improve road quality. 

Speaking at the #ConnectKaro2021- discussion on Enabling Safer Streets for Bengaluru, organised by WRI India, Gowda cited the example of the stretch connecting Peenya to Yeshwanthpur and said, “Many pedestrian accidents occur because the driver’s vision is obstructed due to Metro pillars.” He also pointed out that the height of medians and footpaths should be 1.25 metres. 

On this occasion, WRI India and Underwriters Laboratories launched a web-based tool called Safer Access to Schools (SAST), which enhances school safety in Bengaluru. According to the WRI India analysis which is based on traffic police data, revealed that pedestrians accounted for 37 per cent of road traffic fatalities between 2017- 2020; 50 per cent pedestrian deaths occurred on arterial roads, 64 per cent of deaths happened near the intersections and 20 per cent near metro and bus stations. The National Crime Records Bureau report--2019, showed that 90 per cent of fatalities were due to overspeeding. 

Dr Gautham M S, Assistant Professor, Epidemiology and Public Health said that for every death, 30 severe and 70 moderate injuries happen. “One and half years ago, along with the education department, a project on road safety for schools was undertaken. The need for a tool for safety around schools was realised and a student tracking system was almost ready, but it was stalled due to the pandemic. Now, this tool with WRI’s can be layered for better safety,” he adds. 

KR Circle junction gets makeover with fountain
As part of the exercise to improve traffic junctions, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is not just remodelling and improving 30 of them, but it has also decided to give a special touch by creating small water fountains or waterfalls at these places. The first in line is KR Circle junction which has been improved at a cost of Rs 1 crore and a water fountain has been installed at the cost of Rs 1.25 crore. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is inaugurating it on Wednesday and has approved improvement of all junctions. “A coffee table book of all the junctions will also be released on the occasion,” he said. 

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