GURUGRAM: In a big relief to pedestrians, construction of foot overbridges (FOBs) on the Golf Course Road is likely to start soon. DLF along with the GMDA has selected five points on the expressway where the FOBs will come up.
The five locations include Bristol Chowk, around MPD tower, Paras Downtown, Vipul Belmonte and New Times building. Two of these points — Vipul Belmonte and Bristol Chowk — are accident-prone zones which have been labelled as ‘black spots’.
The other five black spots on the expressway include the junction near MLA flats, sector 42-42 junction, AIT Chowk, sector 55-56 metro station, and SPR junction. Last year in July, a child was killed near the sector 55-56 metro station after being hit by a car and a motorcycle while trying to cross the road with his grandmother. The accident had happened near the during peak-traffic hours in the morning.
The accident had created a huge uproar, pushing the authorities into action. Several government departments surveyed the entire stretch of the expressway and assessed the requirement of FOBs.
For this proposed plan, GMDA has also sought suggestions from the public which have to be submitted by November 12.
A team of officials from GMDA’s mobility wing scanned several points on the road. “The entire expressway does not have any foot overbridges, making it extremely difficult for the pedestrians to cross the road and also puts their lives in danger,” said a GMDA official.
The original plan for the expressway, however, did not have any provision for FOBs. Many people, especially house helps working in condominiums, can often be seen crossing the road by jumping off the fence on the divider. After a large number of pedestrian deaths, authorities directed DLF to make FOBs on the entire stretch to ensure such accidents are avoided. However, the project has only begun and is likely to take months for the FOBs to become functional.
The expressway also does not also have footpaths and cycle tracks which were, in fact, included in its initial design plans.