‘Sponsors can install escalators, elevators for foot overbridges on NH bypass’

NHAI open to sponsors installing escalators/elevators on foot overbridges to improve pedestrian safety on busy 16-km Edappally-Aroor NH corridor.

Faced with criticism over not many pedestrians using the five foot overbridges on the 16-km Edappally-Aroor NH corridor, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has expressed openness to sponsors installing escalators/elevators on either side of the structures.

The underutilisation of the structures has been attributed to their not-so-friendly access and the absence of lights on them. Despite this, the NHAI has not installed proper sign boards to warn speeding motorists of junctions next to the structures being pedestrian-dense zones.

Police sources said most pedestrians preferred to cross the four/six-lane carriageway of the busy NH corridor despite vehicles zooming past, because of the ‘unfriendly design’ of the foot overbridges. “The structures that do not have lights are particularly risky to use at night since miscreants could commit crimes without inviting anybody’s attention. The worst part is that pedestrians tend to cross the NH Bypass right at bus stops that have been put up right at junctions where vehicles turn towards service roads and side roads. This is risky since blind spots abound,” they added.

The 16-km corridor is said to be the busiest NH stretch in Kerala and is used daily by a whopping one lakh passenger car units (PCUs). That this many vehicles use the corridor that is flaked by densely-populated residential and commercial zones makes it highly vulnerable to accidents involving pedestrians. Junctions like Edappally, EMC, Chakkaraparambu, Chalikkavattom, Vyttila, Kannadikkad, Kundannur, and Panangad are considered highly unsafe for pedestrians. Still, the NHAI has not installed adequate boards and cats-eye reflector studs to warn motorists.

NHAI sources said the agency would issue no-objection certificate (NOC) to shopping malls and other firms which were willing to install escalators/elevators on either side of foot overbridges.

They assured that the need for pedestrian lines, warning boards, and lights on foot overbridges would be taken up in all seriousness since pedestrians were resorting to jaywalking despite the presence of foot overbridges. “There are at least three prominent shopping malls in the corridor that could sponsor escalators/elevators since their customers are among those who will benefit from being able to safely cross the road. Steps will also be taken to prune plants that hamper the view of pedestrians and motorists,” the sources said.

Residents associations have been demanding installation of high-mast lights at busy pedestrian crossings on the NH Bypass.