Work on pedestrian plaza begins
The much-delayed Pedestrian Plaza project in T Nagar, which aims to promote space for pedestrians, took off on Monday, with SP Velumani, Minister for Municipal Administration, laying the foundation stone for the Rs 33.80-crore project.
By : migrator
Update: 2018-05-07 19:45 GMT
Chennai
Keeping in line with the Greater Chennai Corporation’s non-motorised transport (NMT) policy, the Pedestrian Plaza project envisioned on Thyagaraya Road would create safe street space for pedestrians by restricting the vehicular movement.
Thyagaraya Road has been divided into three stretches, to ensure quality in construction and early completion of work, without obstructing the flow of traffic. The stretches are Panagal Park to Thanikachalam Road (730 meters), Thanikachalam Road to Boag Road Junction (370 meters), Boag Road to Mount Road junction (350 meters).
The carriageway on Panagal Park to Thanikachalam Road stretch would be 7 meters wide with a centre median, while 10-12 meters of pedestrian way has been allocated. Only MTC buses and two-wheelers would be allowed on this part of Thyagaraya Road, giving more space to pedestrians by increasing the space for sidewalks.
In the remaining two stretches – from Thanikachalam Road to Boag Road and from Boag Road to Mount Road junction – the carriageway with centre median would be 15 meters while pedestrian way allocation remains at 3-3.5 meters, with all vehicles using these stretches.
For the benefit of the pedestrians, several facilities such as battery-operated shuttle service would be provided, Minister SP Velumani said. The plaza is expected to be ready within a year.
The highlights of the plaza include an accessible pedestrian-friendly footpath, street furniture, children’s play area, greenery, smart toilet, seating arrangement such as benches for the pedestrians and pedestrian crossings at regular intervals, stressing on safety.
Separate ducts for telephone and electricity cables would be provided and stormwater drains on either side of the roads would help the better flow of water during rainy season. There would also be several design additions such as ornamental street lights, statues and fountains to improve the appearance of the plaza.
During the event, the Minister said that T Nagar has already changed the 1,772 conventional street lights into LED fixtures at Rs 3.44 crore, which has resulted in a savings of Rs 95 lakh. In addition, Rs 6.43 crore has been spent to gain a topographical map of T Nagar through the drone survey exercise under GIS mapping initiative.
URBAN AMENITIES
Initiated projects
- Multi-level car parking: 36.54 cr
- Desilting of Villivakkam lake: 16 cr
- Redesign of 23 roads: 14.52 cr
- Redesign of 8 parks: 9.95 cr
- Linking of stormwater drains: 9.37 cr
Invited tenders
- Solar rooftops: 24.02 cr
- Machines to track water lorries: 11.75 cr
- Electromagnetic water meters: 11.63 cr
- Smart meters for water supply: 9.50 cr
- Bicycle sharing project: 9.49 cr
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