Urban streets: Focus should be on pedestrians, not vehicles, feels UP govt panel at IRC

Taking note of the fact that urban streets were more attuned to the convenience of vehicles than for pedestrians, Neelima Rana Sharma, architect from Orionn Architects, said kerbs, when constructed, should maintain the height and width as dictated by the IRC.

LUCKNOW: Taking an example from the pilot project in Noida’s Captain Shashi Kant Marg, the special UP government panel at the Indian Roads Congress took up the issue of urban streets, among other topics, on Sunday.

Exhibition at the 81st Indian Roads Congress at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in Lucknow. (HT)

Taking note of the fact that urban streets were more attuned to the convenience of vehicles than for pedestrians, Neelima Rana Sharma, architect from Orionn Architects, and presenter on the subject said the current focus of our roads were vehicles and not pedestrians.

Kerbs, when constructed, should maintain the height and width as dictated by the IRC, she added. According to the IRC, kerb stones are supposed to be 6 inches high and 4 inches wide - a standard that urban roads in UP are largely not following.

The project taken up in Noida covered 15 kms of roads, and some of it was repurposed with pavements and cycle tracks. Currently, the urban streets left much to be desired, even apart from kerb stones and lack of pavements, she said. According to Sharma, the roads encroach into green areas, there are improper pedestrian connections or crossings, a constant danger of storm water logging and improper street signage among other issues. “Public roads should be a public space,” she stressed.

One of the moderators, Manoj Kumar Singh, additional chief secretary, department of rural development and panchayat raj, also said that there was a lot of scope for improvement when it came to urban streets in UP.

Smart streets were advocated at the discussion - these would include certain features like usage of sustainable material, possible wifi connectivity, storm water management, etc. It was also pointed out during the question-answer session that urban streets seriously lacked proper drainage system.