The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)-appointed firm LEA Associates South Asia Pvt Ltd (LASA) recently submitted a Corridor Concept Plan (CCP) report to the civic body based on a study it undertook to analyse road- and traffic-related problems in the city.
Andheri was selected as an area of study for developing CCP as a pilot project, keeping the railway station as a pivotal point as the area grapples with issues of poor pedestrian facilities, traffic congestion and hawker encroachment. The study has also suggested probable solutions to the existing problems, which are estimated to cost Rs27.74 crore. Senior civic officials are examining the feasibility of implementing them.
The study is part of BMC's ambitious road mobility plan, which is looking at a long-term solution to the city's road and traffic woes.
The six corridors which were studied in detail were the Caesar Road, JP Road, Bharwadi Lane, Dawood Baug Lane, SV Road and MV Road.
The study was conducted on different parameters — road width, connectivity, transit integration, abutting land use, traffic movement, pedestrian movement, safety aspects, and access roads.
Some of the problems identified are on-street parking and discontinuous median and footpaths, using of footpaths for plantations and welfare services, under-utilised parts of the main road, absence of footpath in front of St Blaze church, temporary arrangement for pedestrians creating bottleneck in carriageway, improper location of bus shelter obstructing pedestrian movement, and lack of lane discipline among motorists.
On JP Road, the study found encroached footpaths that forced pedestrians to walk on the road, on-street parking reducing road width, and discontinuous footpaths. It also found that, at certain locations, there were no bus-stop shelters, no garbage bins and no footpaths.
At Bharwadi Lane, besides footpath encroachment and on-street parking, signboards on roads were damaged, there were no manhole covers, which poses a danger to pedestrians, and garbage was strewn on the road.
In Dawood Baug Lane, the problem of encroached footpaths or no footpath, discontinuous pedestrian movement, narrow lanes and on-street garbage dumping were found to be the primary causes for concern.
Similarly, on SV Road, an arterial road in western suburbs, lack of lane discipline, parking of commercial vehicles on roadsides, temporary medians due to narrow width of the main road, encroachment and improper pedestrian crossing, dangerous for both pedestrians and vehicle users, were some of the problems.
On MV Road, one-way movement due to one-sided alignment of Metro, lack of footpaths and presence of hawkers were the major problems.
The study had listed several suggestions to help improve this situation. The major ones include maximum utility of RoW after removal of encroachment, focus on providing uninterrupted pedestrian movement, integrating pedestrians with transit, providing pedestrian safety, creating cycle/two-wheeler lanes, providing signboards and information, wherever required, as part of a distinctive streetscape design and adopting different traffic calming measures by reducing speed of vehicles.
Additional municipal commissioner SVR Srinivas said the department is in the process of studying the feasibility of implementing the suggestions. "We are expecting to start implementation of the road mobility plan in the next six months. The sample study is part of the process," he said.
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