A ride to good health: NDMC plans a 3km cycle track near Nehru Park

NEW DELHI: To promote eco-friendly modes of transport, New Delhi Municipal Council has planned to construct a 3km cycle track next to the boundary wall/walking track of Nehru Park.
An official said work on the 2m-wide cycle track would start by the end of next month.

“The idea is to encourage people coming to the park to cycle for good health. We will merge the cycle track with footpaths constructed at roundabouts, make cycle parking points and crossings and install tabletop crossings to allow smooth movement of visitors at surface parking lots next to the entrance gates. The tracks will be wide enough to allow movement of two cycles simultaneously. We just need to be careful about leaving sufficient space around trees, even if that means diverting the cycle track a bit,” said the official.
In October 2020, NDMC had launched its first phase of project “Cycle4Change” and developed a 5km stretch starting from Bikaner House at India Gate to Jor Bagh Metro Station via Lodhi Garden. “The corridor was not much in use during the pandemic, but it has become popular during the weekends now,” said another official.
Phase-II of the project included developing an 11km cycling track connecting government housing colonies to offices in and around North Block, South Block, Nirman Bhavan, Central Secretariat and New Moti Bagh. The proposal was submitted to Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning & Engineering) Centre (UTTIPEC) for scrutiny and approval in August.
“Recently, we were asked by UTTIPEC to conduct a trial run along with Delhi Traffic Police on the proposed corridor before going ahead with the project. It will be arranged soon,” said the official.
Till the time Phase-II of the project gets all permissions for implementation, NDMC has decided to go for a 3km track in the third phase around Nehru Park in Lutyens’ Delhi. There is also a plan to develop a 100-metre jogging track inside the park.
Earlier this year, NDMC had constructed a 3km synthetic walking track after receiving complaints of people losing their balance or hurting their knees while strolling in the rocky area in Nehru Park.
“We realised that people were also using the track for running, which was damaging the surface. For their convenience, a plan has been made to construct a 100-metre long and three-metre wide running track near the open gym within the park,” the official said.