Twenty years after it demolished three roundabouts in the city in a bid to ease the flow of traffic, the UT administration seems to have come around, deciding to reinstate these – at the Press Light Point (Sector 17/18/8/9), Transport Light Point (Sector 26), and Housing Board Chowk, all on Madhya Marg. The reason: It was found that at night, the rotaries prompt commuters to slow down and thus bring down the incidence of accidents and resultant fatalities.
The city currently has 47 roundabouts.
The decision to reinstate the three roundabouts was first taken during the state-level road safety council meeting, chaired by UT advisor Dharam Pal in 2021 and subsequently in 2022.
The annual ‘Road Accidents in India’ compiled by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) also supports UT’s findings. While the report for 2022 is yet to be released, the data for 2021 shows that 21 accidents, including fatal and non-fatal, took place near roundabouts in Chandigarh, as compared to 72 near traffic lightpoints. The number of accident-related fatalities was also lower around roundabouts in comparison to traffic lightpoints. A similar trend was also seen in the preceding years (see box).
Speaking about this, National Road Safety Council member Kamaljeet Singh Soi said, “This is expected as roundabouts keep a check on speeding, which is the reason behind majority of the fatal accidents in the city. Roundabouts also provide more safety to pedestrians who cross the road.”
Modelled around the traffic system of Paris, French architect Le Corbusier had planned rotaries for the city to bring down the risk of accidents while also adding to the aesthetics.
{{/usCountry}}Modelled around the traffic system of Paris, French architect Le Corbusier had planned rotaries for the city to bring down the risk of accidents while also adding to the aesthetics.
{{/usCountry}}Deepika Gandhi, associate professor, Chandigarh College of Architecture, explains, “Le Corbusier’s master plan had a roundabout at the main intersection of every sector. The idea was to ensure that fast-moving traffic did not have to stop at every intersection and could flow smoothly while also reducing the risk of accidents. These roundabouts are the hallmarks of City Beautiful.”
Rajnish Wattas, a member of Chandigarh Heritage Conservation committee, adds, “These roundabouts are in keeping with Chandigarh’s garden city image; instead of bland traffic signals, we can have lightpoints with roundabouts.”
But around two decades ago, the UT administration had decided to demolish three roundabouts on Madhya Marg, with an idea to ease the flow of traffic on the busiest road of the city. Around 10 years after that, traffic lights were installed at these intersections.
Experts point out that while roundabouts help commuters to self-regulate on speed, the traffic lights have an exact opposite effect.
“The common tendency is to jump traffic lights, especially during non-peak hours. Roundabouts, on the contrary, are self-regulatory structures that act as traffic-calming devices,” says Navdeep Asija, a technical member of the state-level Road Safety Council and Punjab traffic adviser.
Besides the rotaries at Press Light Point, Transport Light Point and Housing Board Chowk, UT will also be constructing three new roundabouts at the busiest intersections and accident-prone spots in the city on Vikas Marg, including Sector 46/47/48/49 lightpoint where construction is currently underway.
The upcoming roundabouts are at locations labelled black spots or vulnerable stretches by the traffic police. As per MoRTH, a black spot on national highways is defined as a stretch of about 500 metres in which either five road crashes with fatalities or grievous injuries or 10 fatalities took place in the last three years.
There are 10 black spots in the city, of which five are on national highways and five are on other roads within the city. The Transport Light Point and the Press Light Point have both been earmarked as black spots.
Among the 10 black spots, Transport Light Point had the most number of fatal accidents between 2019 and 2021, with the count standing at six.
Press Light Point had five fatal accidents and five fatalities in the said period.
The other intersections where roundabouts are coming up are also vulnerable stretches but don’t meet the criteria of black spots yet.
Senior superintendent of police (traffic) Manisha Choudhary said, “We had recommended new roundabouts at vulnerable spots where traffic violations are more during the night. The roundabouts are being built as per the Indian Road Congress (IRC) codes to minimise the impact of collision of vehicles and to ensure the safety of the drivers.”
Chandigarh chief engineer CB Ojha revealed that the construction of these roundabouts would begin soon. “As far as the Housing Board Chowk is concerned, we have to construct an underpass along with a roundabout here as it is the busiest intersection.”
Height of six roundabouts to be reduced
As part of a pilot project, Chandigarh municipal corporation is in the process of reducing the height of six roundabouts in the city --from nearly 2 ft to nine inches, on the recommendation of the Road Safety Council. The civic body is also putting up paver blocks on 6-ft width on the periphery of the roundabouts. A senior MC official said, “If the model proves successful, it will be replicated at other chowks as well.” Besides, six roundabouts would also be renovates as per the Indian Road Congress standards.