Five years after Chennai adopted a Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) Policy, the Chennai Corporation is set to develop an NMT Master Plan, which will guide the future course of action of various line agencies.
Areas considered to be the face of the city, covering neighbourhoods such as Mylapore, Royapettah, Nungambakkam, T. Nagar, Adyar, Velachery, Taramani and Guindy, will be covered in the first phase of mapping.
“Ten consultants will meet on Tuesday. The study area will be 68 sq. km. The master plan will preserve the distinct characteristics of the neighbourhoods,” said an official.
In the first phase, the Corporation will develop a non-motorised network along 59.3 km of bus routes, 57.4 km of streets, 12.3 km of greenways and 11.8 km of highways.
“T. Nagar will get an NMT network package covering 25 km,” said an official.
Useful for all
Former Corporation Councillor P.V. Tamil Selvan said residents had requested the civic body to make the non-motorised transport network useful for all sections of society. “The master plan is expected to make the network more inclusive,” he said.
Aswathy Dilip of ITDP said the master plan will prioritise the shaping of spaces for people through elements like pedestrian-only streets, reusing spaces under flyovers, development of cycling and walking trails along canal edges and even embracing characteristics of a particular neighbourhood in its design.
“With over 1,500 anganwadis and 280 Corporation-run schools in the city, the Chennai Corporation also envisions to achieve improved mobility to all learning centres through this NMT Master Plan, thereby making a leap towards child-friendly cities,” she said.
Over the past few years, Chennai Corporation has been making efforts to create safe, walkable and livable streets that cater to all user groups.
These ‘complete streets’ will be designed with wide and continuous footpaths, safe pedestrian crossings, dedicated cycle tracks, conveniently placed bus stops, clearly designated on-street parking, organised street vending, and properly-scaled carriageways.
Expanding efforts
“Having successfully created over 100 km of ‘complete streets’ with wide and vibrant footpaths, Chennai is now expanding its efforts. The city aims to create a master plan for a city-wide network of streets for walking and cycling, with a detailed pilot design area of approximately 70 sq. km. The design will aim at prioritising people over motorised vehicles and focus to improve the user experience and at ensuring seamless connectivity,” said Ms. Dilip.
Former Corporation floor leader V. Sukumar Babu said the existing NMT network was fragmented.
“The NMT network to be developed based on the master plan should be integrated properly. Encroachments along the footpaths are emerging as the key challenge now,” said Mr. Babu.
The civic body would review the existing and proposed transport and urban infrastructure plans this week. Officials would conduct a mapping of baseline information like mass transit corridors, public transport routes, bus stops, NMT infrastructure, right of way and accident hotspots.
The designers of NMT infrastructure have started collecting information about existing, ongoing and proposed projects in the city. “The designers will also identify the potential areas for multimodal integration,” said an official.