Noida roads to be widened, get ‘green walkways’
The authority will build these walkways at all busy traffic intersections including Rajnigandha chowk, sector 16A, Model Town chowk and other locations
NOIDA
The Noida authority has decided to widen city roads and also build “green walkways” at multiple points to address traffic congestion issues and also ensure safe passage to pedestrians, considering that people risk lives to cross over to other sides negotiating heavy traffic, particularly during peak hours.
The walkways will be built at all busy traffic intersections including Rajnigandha chowk, Sector 16A, Model Town chowk and other locations.
A key reason for the move being that as pedestrians cross over, it slows down traffic, causing big snarls which spill over to all city roads. During peak hours in morning and evening, most of the city roads witness traffic congestion, troubling commuters especially officegoers, said officials.
“When we get down from Metro or bus on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, there’s no safe passage to walk to office or residential areas located along this e-way. It’s unsafe to walk from e-way to sectors located along Noida-Greater Noida Expressway amid traffic that ply on high-speed,” said Yashpal Singh, a Sector 130 resident.
Lokesh M, chief executive officer (CEO), Noida authority, on Saturday interacted with citizen groups who shared views on different issues and discussed problems during the meeting held at Sector 6 main administrative office.
The CEO also reviewed the progress of different projects being undertaken by the civil department in the city with an aim to improve infrastructure and municipal services to the citizens in the city.
In the meetings, the authority decided to widen the city’s many arterial roads, develop “green walkways” and beautify some of them areas with an aim to ensure smooth flow of traffic and safety to pedestrians. The move comes after citizens took up the perennial traffic congestion issues and how pedestrians fail to get a safe passage on city roads.
“We interacted with the officials and gave suggestions to improve the traffic management and make the city a better place,” said Vipin Malhan, president, Noida Entrepreneurs Association.
“We have directed our staff to work in close coordination with the citizens and address the prevailing issues in the city... We are seeking opinions from different citizens who are experts in their respective field and then working to find solutions to issues,” the CEO said.
One of the key problems discussed was that the thousands of office-goers who have their offices located along 25km Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, find it tough to walk to their respective offices amid heavy vehicles. And similarly, the pedestrians find it challenging to travel to their offices on Dadri road near Rajnigandha Chowk, Sector 16A, sectors 9, 19, 62 and other areas in absence of adequate space to walk safely.
After the meeting the authority decided to visit these sites and then find a solution to these issues that trouble the office-goers. To reduce traffic pressure on Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, the authority’s civil department will plan how this problem can be resolved by developing walkways that offer safe routes to pedestrians from E-way to sectors located parallel to it.
“We have discussed building a walkway that offers safe passage to pedestrians from Rajini Chowk to Telephone Exchange located in Sector 19, and how strengthening of the service road along sector 16A will help the pedestrians to reach their destination with ease. Citizens complained during the meeting that due to illegal parking on sector 16A service lanes, not only the commuters but also pedestrians find it tough to travel in this stretch. This prompted the authority to take a decision to remove illegal parking, repair the road and offer smooth passage,” said a Noida authority official, aware of the matter.
The authority’s civil department has proposed to widen roads, reduce the elevation of footpath and beautify the round-about located near National special economic zone (NSEZ) on Dadri-Surajpur-Chhalera road to offer smooth commute in this area home to factories and MNCs. The authority’s civil department will carry out site visits, and then prepare a detailed project report before the work begins at the site, said officials.
Similarly, the pedestrians find it challenging to travel to their offices on Dadri road near Rajnigandha Chowk, Sectors 16A, 9, 19, 62 and other areas in the absence of adequate space to walk safely.
To reduce traffic pressure on Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, the authority’s civil department will plan how this problem can be resolved with walkways.
Meanwhile, the department has also proposed to widen roads, reduce elevation of footpath and beautify the round-about located near National special economic zone (NSEZ) on Dadri-Surajpur-Chhalera road.
The authority also decided to develop a 9km stretch that begins from Delhi’s Mayur Vihar-1 to Botanical Garden as ‘Mall Road’ of Noida. Currently this crucial road that divides Noida into two parts before it reaches Greater Noida, witnesses traffic congestion. This road passes through Nayabans and Atta villages, where squatters reduce this 60-metre wide road into narrow lanes at some stretches causing traffic snarls during peak hours, said officials.
“We have decided to re-design the footpath, divider and also re-plan the vending zones before it is beautified with street furniture, mural lights and wall paintings. We want to develop this route into a beautiful passage like Mall Road that exists in many other cities,” said Lokesh M.
The authority, meanwhile, has also decided to develop water bodies and parks in the city to offer recreational spaces in the city for the public.