More cycle tracks with 2-way lanes to come up

Gurgaon: The Gurgaon Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has started the process of finalising the stretches to construct six cycle tracks as part of its comprehensive mobility plan. The authority is going to lay over 700 km of cycle tracks in the city over the next 20 years under the mobility plan.
VS Kundu, chief executive officer, GMDA said that the mobility plan which is expected to be unveiled in the next couple of weeks mentions that the city would need around 700 km of cycle tracks by 2041. This would broadly cover the entire city making it possible for anyone to cycle across the city.
“While that is the long-term plan, we will have to execute it in phases. In the next six months, we will be picking up six different stretches for laying cycle tracks,” said Kundu.
GMDA is working with the Hero Foundation on the project and the team is collectively working on finalizing these six stretches. These stretches will be dedicated cycle tracks and no vehicle will be allowed on these tracks.
Last Friday, GMDA had launched the first dedicated cycle track between its office and Huda City Centre. The 10-km long stretch on both sides of the road was developed in just 10 days.
All the upcoming tracks will be based on the same outlay with two-way cycling lanes and exits at regular intervals. The tracks will be marked as well.
Talking about the intersections, Sarika Panda, co-founder of Raahgiri Day movement and who is also involved in the project said, “The stretches under consideration have traffic signals at all major intersections so crossing the road will not be a problem for the cyclists.”
She added that the intersections will be redesigned to facilitate easy and safe movement of the cyclists. “This will be done for all major intersections between HUDA City Centre and Subhash Chowk except the Bakhtawar Chowk which will be taken up in the second phase,” Panda said.
GMDA will draft specific rules for the cycling tracks and these will be put up at regular intervals along the route. Anyone found violating these rules will be penalised. “Any vehicle entering the track will have to pay a fine,” a GMDA official said.
Meanwhile, in order to promote a culture of cycling and encourage more people to adopt the green mode of transport, the authority is also likely to hold more cycle rallies in the coming month.
In the last two months, GMDA has organised two such rallies and they both received an encouraging response.