New Delhi, Dec 29 In order to bring roads and pavements in Delhi on par with those in European nations, the government has initiated a study of the roads in the national capital, including 120 corridors with 783-km road length and 918 major intersections.
The Indian Academy of Highway Engineers (IAHE) under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has engaged Medulla Soft Technologies Private Limited to carry out the study of Delhi roads and pavements.
Top government sources said that the study will incorporate both short and long term objectives and comes as a result of the high number of road accidents in Delhi.
Under the short terms goals, Medulla Soft Technologies has been asked to identify major traffic bottlenecks and then test and evaluate the solutions.
It also includes improvements in junction design, including universal accessibility and safety features.
The study of 128 accident-prone locations (black spots) along with mitigation measures and improved integration of transit stations (metro, railways, major bus stops) and important activity centres for universal access, safe passage, non-motorised transport (NMT) and intermediate public transport (IPT) management would also be carried out under the short term goals.
The study would also include junction-level signal optimisation and corridor- level signal synchronisation.
The company has also been tasked to prepare a detailed report on improved pedestrian, NMT and IPT mobility at locations where these modes are heavily used and identification of issues pertaining to street parking at key locations and investigation of potential solutions.
Under the long term objectives, the consultant will prepare a report on testing, evaluation and optimisation of all upcoming infrastructure development projects to ensure maximum efficiency and elimination of any lacunae at the design stage.
"The proposals for grade separation and capacity enhancement should be considered, wherever required (based on study of traffic bottlenecks, upcoming land use etc)," the government directives said.
The study and recommendations on transit corridors will also be carried out along with detailed objectives, requirements and expected performance of Integration of Transit Stations (ITS) solutions.
Reduction of emissions on city roads will also entail a shift to public transportation, said a senior official.
The consultant will also give suggestions on parking policies.
The officer said: "Retrofitting work on the city roads and pavements on the basis of this study will start after the acceptance of the report and approval from the Traffic Police and other authorities concerned."
There would also be issues of landscaping of seven stretches of roads on a trial basis by the Delhi Public Works Department, wherein improvement of intersections, traffic islands, central med and other areas would be undertaken.
(Sumit Kumar Singh can be reached at sumit.k@.in )
( With inputs from IANS )
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