Corporation to ease pedestrians woes

KOCHI: In order to ease pedestrians’ woes, the Kochi Corporation is planning to look into the possibilities of implementing the product package for improved pedestrian facilities suggested by the Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA). The agency in its feasibility study report for the betterment of public transport sector in the city has suggested various steps including pedestrian precincts, new off-street parking facilities, footbridges and more one-way roads for reducing pedestrians’ woes.As per the report, the pedestrian precincts will free small connecting lanes or streets from vehicular movement to encourage people to walk short distances. New pay and park facilities near the precincts will provide the space for reduced movement of vehicles in small lanes leading to safety of pedestrians and reduced pollution and carbon emissions.“When faced with similar circumstances of gentrifying inner urban brownfield sites, cities across the world invest in urban precincts by improving streetscapes, limiting vehicular access to selected inner city precincts, and providing additional options for off-street parking. Coupled with complementary community education programmes, these initiatives build and reinvigorate communities. This has a beneficial economic impact with business activity improving,” says the report. However, Kochi Corporation Town Planning Standing Committee chairman K J Sohan said that the civic body should conduct a detailed study on the recommendations made by CDIA in its report. “The foot overbridges were experimented by the civic body in the past but were a failure. So, when planning new projects to improve pedestrian facilities, the planners should identify the most feasible components for implementation. For a city like Kochi, underpasses can be the most effective facility compared to foot overbridges,” he said.He also said that new parking facilities would be developed once the new parking policy suggested by the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) is executed. “Pedestrian precincts is a good proposal made in the report.""But before that a detailed study should be conducted to identify the streets and roads that can be changed into pedestrian precincts,” he said.