The rusted metal barricades that serve as medians will soon be a thing of the past. The Bengaluru Traffic Police has undertaken the task of replacing all metal barricades with 60-cm cement medians on roads infamous for a high number of accidents.
This focus on roads that see a high number of accidents is the first phase of a plan that will ultimately see taller cement medians on more city roads.
The exercise serves two purposes, said R. Hithendra, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic). “Pedestrians and two-wheelers make up a majority of accident victims. Taller medians will deter pedestrians from trying to cross the road wherever they want. Also, many of the metal barricades are broken or corroded,” he said.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is carrying out the replacement work on the request of the traffic police. Among the stretches being covered are those with a high density of vehicles, such as the Outer Ring Roads, New Airport Road, Electronics City Road, and K.R. Puram — which, according to Mr. Hithendra, account for 10% of all the accidents in the city.
Vehicle users say the move would benefit them. “Rash drivers will not be able to overtake as and when they like because there is no way to jump these higher medians. Another way it really helps is by cutting off the impact of high-beam lights of vehicles coming from the opposite direction. Though illegal, high-beam lights are extensively used and are highly problematic as they cloud the vision of the person coming from the opposite direction,” said Shivanna M., a regular user of Ballari Road at Ganganagar, where taller medians have been erected.
The flip side
But not everyone is buying the idea. Prof. Ashish Verma of the Centre for Infrastructure Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning, Indian Institute of Science, said tall, heavy concrete medians would not be not desirable. His reasoning is that in case of making way for emergency vehicles, such as an ambulance, or in case of traffic pile-ups caused by vehicle breakdown, the heavy separators would prove to be a hindrance.
The police’s expectation of reducing accidents involving pedestrians may also be defeated if no safe pedestrian crossings are introduced at the same time, he added.