Witnessing an unending traffic congestion due to 'no space for the pedestrians' crossing and safety, the Public Works Department (PWD) is planning to construct four Foot over Bridges (FOBs) across the heavily congested Aurobindo Marg at Adchini village, Police Training School (PTS), opposite Tuberculosis (TB) hospital and Hauz Khas Enclave near Padmini enclave to streamline the pedestrian traffic.
According to the PWD officials, the FOB on these areas was one of the long pending demanding of Delhi Traffic Police and the public because the route had no facilities for pedestrian crossing and safety. "The pedestrians were often seen hopping and jumping and risking their lives. Many incidents have happened on this stretch and also the rate of traffic mishaps on this stretch is on the higher side."
The PWD has also floated tenders for the constructions of four FOBs and the estimated cost of these pedestrian crossings are pegged at Rs 11.45 crores. The Aurobindo Marg connects Mehrauli-Badarpur (MB) road and is known as one of the heavily congested stretch/route across the national capital.
Officials also added that the FOBs will be equipped staircases and lifts as well and will be installed with modern techniques and facilities such as automatic LED light fittings, shelters, ramp facility for physically disabled and suitable for all weather conditions.
A Delhi Traffic Police official said, "The area is among the heavily congested areas in the national capital. Due to lack of facilities for pedestrian crossings, the red lights and intersections of the Aurobindo Marg witness heavy pedestrian traffic which often results in traffic snarls and its cascading effects are felt on other connecting radial and arterial roads."
"The stretch falls on the Mehruali-Badarpur (MB) road, where nearly more than lakhs of vehicles use this stretch on a daily basis. Further, there are some bottlenecks on this stretch but we hope once the FoBs become functional, the problem will be solved. Also once the constructions will be completed, the traffic police will execute a plan for the smooth flow of traffic on this stretch and it will be made stretch signal free," added the official.
"The PWD should also take interest on the proposal of traffic police to construct a FOB at Rohtak Road National Highway (NH) -10. The stretch has been identified as highly accident prone zones due to lack of crossing facility for pedestrian safety." The PWD has not taken any action yet, said the official.