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Traffic cones installed on cycle tracks in Chandigarh
For now, the cones have been put on one side of the road besides Sukhna Lake, and they will soon be introduced in other parts of the city
For the safety of the cyclists in the city, the Chandigarh traffic police have started putting traffic cones to separate cycle tracks from the main roads.
For now, the cones have been put on one side of the road besides Sukhna Lake, and they will soon be introduced in other parts of the city.
Officiating senior superintendent of police (SSP, traffic) Manoj Kumar Meena said, “The move has been initiated for the safety of the cyclists as vehicles ply even on cycle tracks if they have been marked on the main roads. The move will prevent that and also stop people from parking on the side of the roads.”
Deputy superintendent of police (DSP, traffic central) Palak Goel added, “We have used around 60 cones and have installed them at a distance of 100 meters from each other. On the first day, we received an overwhelmingly positive response and so the plan is to continue with this.”
DSP Goel said a test of the project will be run in the Central Traffic Division; the roads between Sectors 16 and 17 and between Sectors 15 and 16 will be the next to get the cones in the next few days.
Idea shared by city-based cyclists’ group
The idea came from city-based Cyclegiri group, which had shared it with the SSP on Twitter. Administrator of the group, Akshit Passi, said, “There was a video of Chennai where the cones were being hailed as a cheap way to increase the safety of cyclists. We shared the idea with the traffic police and received a positive response from them.”
Passi said the Sukhna Lake road desperately needed an intervention like this: “Many times auto rickshaws and taxis drop off people at the Lake on the roadside. Autos stay parked there, too, encroaching upon the cycle tracks.”
A Twitter user, Basanta Raj Kumar, pointed out how cyclists who would earlier cover a large part of the road in the morning were now riding in their designated zones, making the motorists feel safer as well.
Road safety activist Harpreet Singh said, “The move is in the right direction. Rather than cones, the traffic police along with the civic authorities can place something permanent there, especially on the roads with high density of cyclists.”
In 2019, cyclists made for 10 of the total 104 traffic-related fatalities reported in the city, a slight improvement from 11 cases of 2018.
