Bhubaneswar: In what can be termed as a sea change the Sachivalaya Marg, a prominent landmark in the city housing many prestigious state institutions and employment centres, is all set for complete transformation as a ‘Urban Parkway’ with the integration of landscape, greenery and public plazas in the design.
In line with the Street Design Guidelines developed by the city, the proposed design of Sachivalaya Marg, from Airport Square to Acharya Vihar Square, is envisaged to be a complete street with equitable road space for all users like pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles.
This redeveloped street will bring in new experience for pedestrians, especially kids, as it will have play areas, activity zones and wider footpaths on both sides with ample trees. Most of the trees were retained during the redevelopment, said a BDA official.
The design has also provisions for creating appropriate parking facilities near vending zones, offices and institutions, along with public conveyance facilities like seating areas, benches, street furniture, e-toilets, water ATMs, public plazas-cum-activity zones, information kiosks, directional signage etc.
The design also allows some smart features and components like e-vehicle charging points, solar powered adaptive traffic signal control system, LED street lights, video surveillance system etc, he added.
In order to minimise obstruction on the main lane, dedicated service lanes near offices and institutions would be created reducing the chances of accidents.
As per the project, the existing four lanes will be converted into six lanes to ensure smooth flow of traffic. Special focus has been given on preparing safer junction designs including raised tabletop crossings to facilitate easy road crossing for pedestrians.
Keeping modernisation of the city’s bus service and future augmentation of the fleet in mind, the redeveloped street will have multiple bus stops on each side of the road to ensure easy access to public transport, a source in BDA said. The connecting streets which will undergo redevelopment with Sachivalaya Marg are Udyan Marg, Rajpath, Mahatma Gandhi Marg, Madhusudan Marg and Baya Baba Road, which connects Sachivalay Marg to Janpath.
Each street is designed with specific requirements. The Mahatma Gandhi Marg will be beautified with pedestrian friendly plazas and AG Square and Rajpath will have design interventions for improving traffic flow.
While the street has been designed for future demand, as an environment friendly measure, it has been planned to adopt eco-friendly road construction technology using plastic waste.
The design for this street has been prepared by the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) through its Bhubaneswar Urban Knowledge Centre (BUKC), in consultation with the Public Works Dept., while redevelopment of the street will be undertaken by the state PWD.
PNN
