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Some ideas for the pedestrian underpass
tsubba - 1 May, 2008 | Bangalore | Road Works | BTRAC
some ideas on pedestrian
underpass.
as photoyogi has observed the newly constructed pedestrian walk thrus
will be difficult to use, because coming out of the walk thrus you
directly enter the traffic. without any further safety features, these
will be dangerous to use. posted below is a render of a possible
solution.
bollards provide a sense of safety to the waiting pedestrians. minimally one line of bollards should be ok. alternately they can be staggered to increase visibility.
but they should be near the mouth of the underpass. puting these too far away from the mouth will decrease the pedestrians sense of these as a safety wall.
also, the bollards should not be too tall unless they block visibility, at the same time it should not be too short as it will reduce sense of safety. about the height of a child should be ok, i am guessing about 3 feet.
using rumble strips to finish the arc space especially in area of the arc that is beyond the bollard line(towards the bus in the image above) should add another line of safety. it will provide the drivers with a strong warning that they are doing something wrong.
bollards can also be placed inside the underpass to discourage motorized vehicles from using the underpass to make u-turns.
lights, and using light colours on the walls will improve visibility inside the pedestrian underpass. plus zebra crossing marks should be placed. i forgot to include them in the image.
the loss of road space due to the arc, can be compsensated on the other side of the road. looking at the foto by yogi it does appear that they have carved an arc near the underpass. looking at the pics it does appear there is just about enough space to do this on both side of the underpass.
COMMENTS
Beautiful Renderings !
Naveen - 1 May, 2008 - 10:40
TS - Great job !
This is exactly how it should be - but you know how our public is - uprooting & bending bollards to allow 2-wheelers to pass will become quite commonplace, as has been breaking road lane dividers.
Psychological
shas3n - 1 May, 2008 - 11:02
Good job tarlesubba!
it is interesting to note that a lot of traffic issues can be overcome by mere psychological suggestions. The bollards giving a sense of safety to peds is a case in point. I guess intuitive road markings, signals and road design can themselves help a lot in streamlining the traffic as well as ensuring better safety even without worrying about flyovers etc.
One more example I want to share is this interesting road markin on a road hump. See how the white lines at the edge of the road come closer towards the center of the road on the hump. It not only increases the visibility of the hump, but also gives a psychologicaly 'magnified' effect to the drivers making them slow down.
Will try to get a better picture some other time.
And thanks for the wonderful renderings (google sketchup again?). Makes it so much easier to convey the idea.
-Shastri
zebra markings too..
blrsri - 1 May, 2008 - 11:03
neat work..what further can be done is some zebra markings on the road..which should help!
btw such pedestrian subways aint new..there is one under the infamous hanging bridge at KR puram..the plight of the pedestrians is sad..there is fright on their faces all the time they use this underpass ..and the vehicles whizz past them as though they are infringing on thier road use rights..
underpasses are the ony
ssheragu - 1 May, 2008 - 13:45
underpasses are the ony answer.
see for example, the underpasses at Majestic & KR Market; so many people use it; but for these underpasses the roads in these areas would have been a complete mess with both vehicles and pedestrians seeking right of way at the same time.
the only problem with the underpasses in Majestic and K R Market or for that matter any underpass or over bridge is that hawkers occupy and dirty these underpasses.
one solution would be to identify an emtpy piece of land near these areas and drive away all the hawkers from the underpasses to these empty piece of land.
Srinath Heragu
Mandatory Ped Xings
sandeepmr - 1 May, 2008 - 18:51
I am amazed that the authorities have given a though about the pedestrians and at the same time repeated what they do everytime, given less importance to the safety. The passage is a blindspot to the drivers and a lack of Ped Xing (Zebra markings) is a grave risk , also bollards on the mouth is a great thought but not inside the passage as it may restrict movement of people with wheelchairs or other kinds of dependent mobility. But i agree with the fact that vehicles (especially 2 wheelers) should be prevented from making a U-turn.
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