Udaipurites Decide what do we want ?

Udaipurites decide what do we want?

A beautiful city with Greenery like Chandigarh, Gandhinagar and  Vancouver and with simple road networks or boulevards

Or

A city with indiscriminate flyovers at every choraha 

Decide for yourself and raise your voice

 

Do we really need Flyover at Sikh Colony choraha in Udaipur? 

 Chandigarh and Gandhinagar, the most Beautiful Cities of India, does not have flyovers in city Area

Most of the developed nations are demolishing freeways and replacing them with boulevard 

Recently voted as Most Livable city in the World Vancouver also has no flyovers in city area. (in 1960, its residents defeated administrations plan to build freeway in their city)

We studied Proposed Sikh Colony  Flyover from different perspective and found that it is not required at all. We feel that Proposed Rs 16 Crore for this project should  be used in other development work in the city that requires urgent attention

A BOULEVARD (Source: Wikipedia)

A Flyover (Source: Wikipedia)

Sikh Colony Choraha at a Glance:

          The traffic flow at this junction is much lower and the occasional Jams are only because of Mismanagement of Traffic. The reasons are very clear
     a. The arm from B. N. College towards Sikh Choraha is having Electricity Poles almost in the middle of the road making it unusable for vehicles. Administration should first remove this bottleneck.
     b. The Choraha has such a low traffic that Administration has never found it suitable to have pre-timed Traffic Light Signals. Once they install the Traffic Jam will not occur.

     c.  The Nagar Nigam of Udaipur should broaden the choraha from RCA and Science College side so that traffic from Durga Nursery Road towards B. N. College gets free passage and traffic from RCA towards Durga Nursery Road also gets free passage. Auto stand just at the corner should be shifted around 200 feet from choraha.
     d. Any development starts in phases, When road gets traffic congestion, the administration first remove obstructions and Encroachments, then widen the roads, broaden the choraha and then establishes traffic lights (just yellow lights functional). As traffic increases, they install Pre-timed Traffic light Signals (with Green, Red and Yellow) signals as well as signals for Pedestrians. Sometimes Actuated Traffic light systems are also installed for efficient management of traffic.

     e. The traffic at the Sikh colony is mainly from Surajpole towards B. N. College and from B. N. College towards Durga Nursery Road. They are both almost equal. Therefore as and when flyover will be required at this junction (may be after 15 years), it will have to be grade separated flyovers one from Suraj pole towards B. N. College and other from B. N. College side towards Durga Nursery side. Then only the traffic congestion shall be shifted to next junctions. 

    f. The proposed flyover may become accident prone because there are schools and colleges just at the beginning and end of the proposed flyover. Fateh School, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Fisheries College, TSV Hostel, Science College, Commerce College, B. N. College, B. N. Girls College, Physical Studies College, Pharmaceutical college and many private hostels catering to the needs of students in these institutions) . Therefore, the chances of accidents are very high. Do citizens of Udaipur want their children to become unsafe because of speeding vehicles? 

    g.  Moreover, The National Urban Transport Policy clearly says that urban infrastructure should be developed keeping in mind need of common people and not of  mobility of high speeding vehicles. Flyovers make vehicle to speed and causes more conflict between pedestrian and vehicles. Therefore, whenever, Flyover becomes a must (from Administration point of view), they must propose subway or escalators for pedestrians simultaneously alongwith Flyover.

   i. Flyovers should be planned only after proper study of Traffic Impact Study, Vehicle flow rate, Accident rate, queue length and proposed relief after the Proposed plan. The study result should be made public before proposing flyover .

   j. Transparency should be Maintained. Nagar Nigam should put survey report, project report and other relevant document in the public domain on their website. They have not done it in Proposed Sikh Colony flyover. This shows some vested interest in the Proposal and not necessity.

  k. Residents of the area must be taken into confidence and should be given a clear view about the need (that can be verified by scientific methods)

  l. It is observed that in India, Most of the flyovers are just proposed or build as a popularity move. Whenever there is jam Politicians start talking of Flyovers.

 m. Flyovers should only be proposed as a last resort when all other methods of solving the traffic problem failed or in cases where there is crossing of railway line in city.

 n.   Indian Road Congress Clearly says that " Flyovers are very Costly and authorities should plan it as a last measure or when there is no other option left. Moreover, Cost Benefit studies are a must before planning for a flyover. Nagar Nigam has not as yet published (on its website) cost benefit analysis of this project for public
 o. If Flyover is the only solution found they we must take into consideration the width of the road. Kobe like earthquake when Flyover itself tumbled on ground does not come with pre-warning. There should be enough space on both side of the road so that even it Flyover tumbles on the road on either side, the road does not jams and Building are not harmed by Flyover.
  p. Speed of vehicles on this road is already very high because of low traffic and almost free road, having unnecessary flyover will increase the speed of vehicle even more making this road a dangerous accidental road as school and colleges are in proximity. 
  q. At Present the Road at the Proposed Flyover is around 100 feet wide. If The administration has decide to make it then first they must widen it to 150 feet (as per master plan) and then construct flyover at the centre so that on both side around 40 feet road shall remain. If this is not done then just after construction of flyover, the administration will acquire residents houses and shops. Rightnow, at one side of the proposed flyover there is land of colleges that were obviously given to them free of cost. Government can take them and allot them new and bigger land somewhere else. At the same time allow there main road area to be used commercially so that they shall get perpetual rental income for them.

  r. All Democratic countries involve local communities and people in developing the area but in this case the Administration did not make any effort for this communication. Transparency is one of the major concern, that is completely lacking. We are unable to locate the anything about this flyover on Nagar Nigam Website. In Contrast Have a look at Department of Transport Planning and Local Infrastructure, Australia and see they have provided every detail on website even at the planning stage. Even Objections from people and communities are taken and published.
s. The value of area drops wherever  flyovers are made therefore administration must think of compensating those people who are affected by such flyovers whenever they are made

Adjacent Chorahas near Sikh Colony

       The Traffic flow at Surajpole and Delhi Gate is much much higher than Sikh colony, therefore, flyover at Sikh Colony choraha will make situation at Surajpole choraha and sukhadia samadhi choraha even worse( the jam may just extend upto the end of flyover near Fateh school. Similar Studies by Prof. Mitra (2004) of IIT Kharagpur have shown that ill planned Flyovers just shifts the location of the problem without bringing any benefit to traffic (He studied case of the then Proposed flyover of Kolkata). He predicted by his model that the proposed flyover will increase the overall vehicle delay two to three times (proposed flyover and adjacent junctions are taken into consideration). In 2008, The telegraph reported that Prof. Mitra was right (January 02, 2008, Take a High Road to Car Chaos- Flyover has shifted traffic clog from Gariahat to nearby crossings).
       We demand that Administration must undertake study of "Impact of Flyover at Adjacent Intersections"  and "Traffic Impact Analysis of Sikh Colony choraha" with Holistic approach before starting this project. Studies must be made public for review and open to discussion before implementation of projects.

(proposed Sikh Colony choraha in afternoon where traffic is not much and Poles are creating bottleneck)

Other information that shows the problems of Flyover in India:

1. Deccan Herald (June 01, 2013) (No Flying Over this problem) Reported similar views while talking about Traffic problems of Delhi and again reported about studies of Prof. Mitra et al and traffic problems of Gariahat kolkata.

2. Indian Express (28 April 2014, Flyovers in Place, traffic Chaos runs on) echoed similar views about traffic problem of Bhubaneswar)

3. Economic times (06 April, 2014, Is it time to stop the endless building of flyovers in india?) echoes similar views while talking of Flyovers in Mumbai and other metros.

4. Hindustan Times (May 07, 2014, Flyovers Torn Down, world Over) talks about how modern cities of Developed countries are demolishing the Flyovers.

5. Unfortunately, Our road cracks within months and so does Flyovers as well. With repeated Overloading of Layers of Road, the flyovers become orverloaded very soon and become white Elephant. On 12 May 2014, in Hyderabad Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation officials accepted that they are now worried of the safety of flyovers there 

6. Dr. C. S. Surajwanshi has written an article about Fatigue in Concrete concerns security and stability of flyovers.

7. The Hindu: (26 October 2009): Flyovers: are they solutions or problems? writes that Flyovers has not made much solution to city traffic problem in Chennai






SO the solution is to develop all other road networks (proposed in Master Plan) and install proper pre-timed traffic signals and educate people to drive with care and to obey traffic rules. This will create a safe and better city

World View:  Freeway Removal

After Second world War, flyovers were the most preferred solutions world over for traffic solutions but over a period of time they experienced that Flyovers are not solving traffic problems and in many cases they are creating more problems. Academic research and Practical experiences found following facts about Flyovers.
        i.    Flyovers does not solve the traffic problem but merely shifts it Location
        ii.   Area under flyovers become economically stagnant and with low value for residence purpose.
        iii.  They create more noise and vibrations and therefore are an eyesore of the residents
        iv.  Under area of flyovers are used by anti social elements, drunkards and druggists.
        v.   Under area remain filthy and wet, people use them for grafitti
        vi.  They destroy the beauty of the city
        vii.  They are White Elephant because of high Maintenance cost.
        viii. Flyovers are used only by private vehicles and Public vehicles do not use them when empty because their customers (mainly pedestrians) are on the ground and not on flyovers.
        ix.   Very soon people stop using them because flyovers become overloaded because of overlapping of asphalts whenever it is worn.
        x.    Flyovers are easily damaged in Earthquakes

Because of all these concerns Many prominent cities of the world have started Demolishing Flyovers. The reason is very clear, as someone said " We make Cities for people and not for cars". America, Europe, Columbia, Brazil and other countries started making cities for people. They made wide roads with lanes for pedestrians and for cycling.

      a. Portland, Oregon around forty years ago (around 1974 to 1978) realised that Flyovers are ot solving the traffic problems and they demolished Harbor Drive Freeway. Portland Police data says that Crime rate reduced 65 % after redevelopment of the area and the crime rate of the city as a whole reduced 16% in the city.

      b. San Francisco demolished (around 1990) its famous freeway (Central  freeway and Embarcadero freeway) and created a lane based road called Octavia Boulevard.  City Authorities observed that the Tourism developed after freeway removal and city observed a rise in residential planning around the area near old Freeway.

      c.  Boston demolished it Central Artery freeway around 2000

      d.  Seoul Korea started removing its 16 freeway in 2014 . Seoul, South Korea is leading the charge in urban freeway removal, having torn out 15 freeways in the past 12 years.

      e.  In Toronto, the easternmost portion of theGardiner Expressway (between Don Road and Leslie Street) was demolished in 2000, replaced with an at-grade urban boulevard with stop lights and railroad crossings, and a bike trail bike trail

      f.  In 2003, Milwaukee replaced its Park East Freeway with a six-lane surface boulevard


     g. In 2011, Madrid replaced its freeway with parks (New York Times, 26-12-2011)

     h. Leicester, Belgrave Flyover demolition started in 2014.The demolition of Belgrave Flyover was heralded by cheers from local people who gathered to say farewell to the structure.Belgrave resident Kuwarben Parmar, 65, who had been chosen at random by Leicester City Council for the honour, then sounded a horn to start the munchers.

Among the crowd watching was Leicester’s city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby, who said watching the demolition was exciting, despite the experts decision to do the job without the use of explosives.
He said: “It’s still very satisfying to watch. It’s been a white elephant for the city ever since it was built and people have been talking about pulling it down for a long time.

    i.  Hammersmith Flyover is also proposed to be demolished. People have voted for it now.

    j.  Demolition of A630 Flyover in Rotherham completed

   

   k. People against Flyover as they found Sydney flyovers ugly

   

   l.  In 2002 Melbourne demolished a flyover  - which had been built in 1961! –  and “removed an eyesore” according to The Age:

   m. Auckland City planners says that Downtown Flyover needs to go

  n.  Seattle government document also studied the freeway removal plan and noted many observation that make a point to remove the freeways. Americans call making of Flyovers after II world was as one of the great error of American City Planning

  o.  New Orleans, New York, Buffalo, New Haven, Miami, St. Louis, Cleveland, Rochester, Syracuse, Dallas, Hartford, and many other American cities are proposing or people are planning to remove their freeways.

Movements against Flyovers: 

   1.   In 2008, Congress for New Urbanism writes about freeway without futures   . With the Help of People and city councils CNU has started Freeways to Boulevards initiative 

   2.   Institute for transport and development policy says that Flyovers no solution to traffic woes

   3.  Stop Flyover Movement says : Flyovers and Overpasses – relics of the past

   4.  Walworth Society calls for demolition of Bricklayers Arms Flyover.

   5. Australian people are opposing East West link Freeway and also their leaders and the good thing is that people want train lines for these area and not the toll based freeway. They have also come up with facebook page

Many more people all around the world are raising their voices against Flyovers.  

Earthquake collapses Flyovers : 

1. New York Times , 1994 : freeways collapse

2. Kobe, 1995, Earthquake damages Flyovers

Damage from the Great Hanshin Earthquake is kept intact at the Earthquake Memorial Park near the port of Kobe. The elevated Hanshin Expressway, in the background, was partially toppled by the earthquake.(wikipedia)

A Bus hanging from a damaged flyover (BBC)

Broken freeway, Kobe (Geo resources, UK)

Kobe Flyover tumbled on the ground creating havoc (wordpress)

Academic Research that shows that Flyovers doesn't solve the traffic problem:

1. Robert Cervero, Professor and Chair, Department of City and Regional Planning,University of California, Berkeley presented a research paper in 2006 titled " Freeway Deconstruction and Urban Regeneration in the United States" . In this paper the author writes " the era of indiscriminate freeway construction and a focus on mobility-based planning is without question over. He further concludes " In this sense, freeway deconstruction is tied to the re-ordering of urban priorities that gives preference to planning for people and neighborhoods, not mobility. Smart growth, high-quality public transit options, bike- and pedestrian-friendly corridors, and improved boulevard designs will no doubt serve to further diminish the necessity for high-capacity elevated freeway structures in many global settings.

 

2.  Dr. B Maitra et al, (2004, European Transport 27) : "Modeling traffic Impact of FLyover at an urban intersection under mixed traffic environment "
          He studied traffic at proposed flyover at  Gariahat junction and demonstrated that an ill planned flyover only shifts the location of the problem without bringing any benefit to traffic. But the administration said that they had already spent a lot of money on it and went for it. After completion of flyover, the result were as predicted by Dr Maitra. The Average Vehicular delay and total vehicle hour delay increase to about three times as reported by Telegraph in 2008

3. Noland and Cowart (Springer Transportation 2000, Vol 27 Issue 4, pp- 363-390): " Analysis of metropolitan highway capacity and the growth in vehicle miles of travel

4. Noland (Pergamon, 2001) : Relationships between highway capacity and induced vehicle travel

5. Youn et al (Physical Review Letters, 101, 128701,  17 september 2008): Price of Anarchy in transportation networks: Efficiency and optimality control

Policies:

National Urban Transport Policy of India also says very clearly sets its objective that" bringing about a more equitable allocation of road space with people, rather than vehicle, as its main focus. Any traffic scheme having an adverse impact on pedestrian, commuters and bicycle users is against the Policy

 

It is time for us to think whether we should do same mistakes that others did or we should learn from mistakes of others

Do Not keep Quiet, raise your voice for your city