Meeting for Road Connectivity and Traffic Improvements
An integrated and inclusive planning, involving various departments, is needed to provide a good transportation and traffic system for the city and its surrounding areas, Chief Secretary L.K. Tripathy said here on Friday.The departments concerned and citizens' groups should meet every fortnight to discuss various requirements of the city, he said at a district-level sub-committee meeting on Urban Development, Road Connectivity and Traffic Improvements.Housing and Urban Development Secretary R. Sellamuthu, Transport Secretary Chandra Prakash Singh, Highways Secretary K. Allaudin, Commissioner of Municipal Administration Niranjan Mardi, Joint Commissioner Hitesh S. Makhwana, Coimbatore Collector Neeraj Mittal, City Police Commissioner C.K. Gandhirajan, Coimbatore Corporation Commissioner P. Muthuveeran and senior police, highways and Corporation officials, traffic and transportation experts and representatives of citizens' groups participated.
The purpose of the meeting was to take stock of the requirements of the city such as a mass transit system, wide roads, flyovers, multi-tier parking lots and good pavements for pedestrians. Projects for these are being planned by the Corporation under the Union Urban Development Ministry's Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.A presentation by consultants Wilbur Smith stressed the need for separate tracks for bicycles and pavements along the lanes for the Bus Rapid Transit System - the public transportation mode the Corporation has planned.
The first phase of this project should cost over Rs. 630 crore.The consultants said the cost did not include acquisition of land. Mr. Allaudin said the consultants' presentation was limited to the city. The planning had to include the surrounding areas also, under the urban agglomeration concept of the infrastructure mission. Avanashi Road would have six lanes but traffic would still get choked because of the narrow bridge above the railway line at the Hope College Junction.
The official said that the National Highways Authority of India had allocated Rs. 20 crore for improvements to and widening of a portion of the Tiruchi Road within the city limits. A 45 km stretch had also been identified for a ring road around the city. It would be laid in three phases at a cost of Rs. 40 crore. Mr. Sellamuthu said eight radial roads planned for the city should also have bus terminals to facilitate smooth passenger flow.
The official said that the National Highways Authority of India had allocated Rs. 20 crore for improvements to and widening of a portion of the Tiruchi Road within the city limits. A 45 km stretch had also been identified for a ring road around the city. It would be laid in three phases at a cost of Rs. 40 crore. Mr. Sellamuthu said eight radial roads planned for the city should also have bus terminals to facilitate smooth passenger flow.
"Coimbatore will definitely have a better network of roads. But, plan these for a period up to 2025," he said. Mr. Mittal and Mr. Muthuveeran spoke on the plans drawn up to improve the road infrastructure in the city and also the public transport systems proposed under the mission.Mr. Gandhirajan said traffic congestion on Tiruchi Road had eased after the flyover was recently opened. Congestion in the core city area would reduce when the Sungam Bypass Road flyover also was opened. The city police had identified eight roads that were very congested and accident-prone. The Chief Secretary insisted on pavements for pedestrians only and not hawkers. He also wanted the district authorities to explore the possibility of laning of roads on the basis of speed. Parking space was a key area in the development process, he said. "Apart from the regular parking space, find out whether the city can have multi-tier parking lots that have a mechanical facility to placing vehicles in the allocated slots." .
Infrastructure consultant S.P. Palaniswamy suggested optimum use of the existing roads even as improvements and new facilities were being planned. Vice-President of Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore G. Soundararajan pointed out the need to lay 87 link roads that had been planned some years ago but shelved reportedly owing to funds constraints.
