Foot Bridge for the elderly!

It is not new. It is not a brain wave. It is once in a while announcement by the traffic police. Three deaths of elderly people aged 60 & 73 on the same day made them announce once again that foot bridge is being contemplated to help pedestrians cross over and thus hope to reduce the accidents. But did they consider the following:

1. Can the elderly climb the stairs?

2. Are the existing foot bridges being used and if not why so?

3. Are there enough space on both sides of the road to build a foot bridge?

4. Will the foot bridge solve the problems of no foot path or unusable foot path, if they exist?

5. What is there to stop our tankers, buses and lorries crashing against the foot bridges?

6. Will the foot bridges facilitate the flow of non-crossing pedestrians by having spaces to walk around them?

7. If the answer is negative to 6 then will not the pedestrians walk on the road which is the perennial problem?

As it has been already mentioned in some other post the problem to be tackled is haphazard parking which not only reduces the width of already narrow roads but also force the pedestrians to walk in the middle of the road.

Then where will they park? They should have enough parking lots. The parking fee should be small and the fine for parking in no parking zone heavy. The roads are public property. That does not mean we can use them for our private use, be it parking or urinating. Maybe the people who park their vehicles on roads, whether it is in front of their homes/flats or elsewhere should be treated as encroachers of public land.

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Chennai Traffic-No Comments

Do comment please!

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Chennai Traffic-Menace of Public Parking

Our roads are not wide enough is a fact every one knows. But it is not unusual to see that the space is further narrowed down by parking of cars. So apart from motorists, the pedestrians also have to use this space. Still people go on without any thought about safety like the cyclist on a cell phone in the above photo.

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Chennai Traffic-Will it be Published?

This is my letter to The Hindu I sent today. Whether they publish it or not, I have published it: )

Sir

It is nothing new for our people to jump over poodles, evade pestering vendors, avoid being electrocuted by exposed wirings, etc. Added to the list is haphazard parking because of too many vehicles, carrying too few people, looking for space which is scarce! It is so easy to get the cars with ever willing banks lending a hand, literally. This parking menace is not only affecting people in shopping areas but also in residential areas. Already people are forced to walk on road because of lack of pavements, which, if they exist are taken over by casual labourers or cars, once again. The parked cars on roads, not only reduce the width of the roads but also force the people to walk in the middle of the road which is already treated as disputed area by motorists. Now with the introduction of nano cars it is possible that the problem will be further compounded. So everyone may finally end up walking as there will be no space to drive! It is high time that the authorities demand for the 'availability of parking space within the premises' certificate. Or the government can charge a hefty sum as parking fee from those people who use the public space as parking area. At least this will force people to realise that the 'roads are not their ancestors' property' as the old adage goes!

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