NEW DELHI: In order to make the city roads safer for pedestrians and to reduce accidents, the city traffic police will conduct a junction-improvement trial at the Delhi Gate intersection, which is infamous for accidents and has been declared one of the top black spots in the city. The trial will commence from April 2 (Friday) and will continue for a few weeks. During the trial, the police will test the proposed design changes for the busy junction by deploying cones, barricades and planters.
The design changes and trial was suggested by the World Resources Institute (WRI). Recently, the Delhi Traffic Police in collaboration with WRI had conducted survey of various roads, intersections and signages to make them safer for commuters. “The trial would be done by simply placing barricades and cones in an organised manner to define the proposed infrastructure changes,” said a senior traffic police officer.
The large junction will be revamped to a more manageable and safe scale by removing residual spaces.
“About eight to ten stretches/intersections which have been identified as black spots are covered under this study and the Delhi Gate intersection has topped the list. So, we have decided to make some design changes on a trial basis. After studying the results, a report will be submitted to senior officials for taking up permanent changes and measures for pedestrian safety,” said Amit Bhatt, a senior WRI official.
Besides, safer pedestrian crossings will be marked with shortest distance possible and having refuge islands as waiting area. Barricades will also be placed to discourage wrong-side/high-speed traffic movement in slip lanes and service lanes. “The trial will run for a few weeks to capture data and compare it with the earlier one. However, there would be no diversions or blockade of roads during the trial,” said a senior traffic police officer.
