VIJAYAWADA: As the users of bicycle are slowly disappearing and those who remain are facing difficulties with the congested roads and heavy traffic, the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) and Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) wants to reverse the trend by constructing ‘Cycle Tracks’ in the city.
As a part of city beautification project, the VMC and CRDA jointly took up the project of developing greenery and laying cycle tracks in identified spots. They had asked various private companies, who came forward for beautification project, to design a plan for the city development.
After scrutinising the designs submitted by the companies recently, the officials allotted the project to Chennai-based Shilpa Architects, which would prepare a blueprint for city development, including cycle tracks, greenery, road widening and various other aspects, with an estimated budget of Rs 60 lakh.
“We are planning to develop and lay cycle tracks between Gannavaram and Kanaka Durga Varadhi area, on pilot basis, in the city depending on the feasibility of roads and requirement, as 5.5 m land is needed on one side of the road of which footpath would be 1.8 m in width with 1 m buffer and 1.5 m wide space for trees. A cycle track should be of 1.5-2 m in width,” explained VMC commissioner G Veerapandian.
In addition to this, they identified a few junctions and road margins including Guntur Varadhi, BRTS Road, Gollapudi, Sitara area, Kabela Centre and few other places in the city to develop greenery.
“We have already started developing greenery in these areas, which have been left abandoned for the past few months without any proper maintenance and are also making plans to develop few more lung spaces. The project also includes development of Raghavaiah Park, KR Park and Rajiv Gandhi Park, which can generate their own income for their maintenance,” he said.
Moreover, these plans are being welcomed by the people of the city. “Children are unable to use the cycle tracks in the city due to a steady increase in traffic and we are restricting them not to use cycles these days.
But now, they can have a safe ride, once the proposed cycle tracks become a reality,” said Ch Anuradha, a private employee.