Mumbai: The 22-km Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Marg will be taken up for traffic management and road safety after the monsoon by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The World Resources Institute (WRI) India had submitted a proposal to the BMC in April, after analysing a 10-km stretch from Bandra Kurla Complex Junction to Gandhinagar Junction. The BMC has, however, decided to implement the proposal for the entire road.
LBS Marg is not only an arterial road, but also has traffic bottlenecks, trenches, and uneven footpaths running along its length. The makeover is challenging because the footpaths are either encroached upon, discontinuous, or non-existent. The proposal suggests widening the footpaths from the current zero to 1.5 metres to between 2-4 metres.
“We have prioritised pedestrians in our proposal, since we believe that if you cater to pedestrian facilities, in the process you will also optimise traffic flow … while also reducing road fatalities,” said Nikhil Chaudhary, Senior Project Associate, WRI India.
The proposal also includes increasing pedestrian refuge areas while crossing roads, continuous pedestrian crossing and traffic calming measures before the crossing, and adding signs for U-turns. As per WRI, the project can create 94, 600 sq.m. of safe walking space along the road.
Sanjay Darade, Chief Engineer (roads and traffic), said, “We have undertaken work on LBS Marg with the help of WRI India.”