KMDA proposes 5 routes for setting up cycle tracks

KOLKATA: The Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) has suggested five routes in the city for setting up cycle tracks.

KMDA has earmarked Strand Road—stretching from Shyambazar to Hastings— some roads stretching from Shyambazar to Tollygunge Metro station; roads stretching from Moulali to Jadavpur 8B; stretch between EM Bypass (from Ultadanga station till Ruby Hospital) and Rashbehari Avenue, from Kalighat Metro to Ruby Hospital, for setting up cycle tracks.

"We have prepared the route map for cycle lanes in the city. However, on a number of roads that fall between the starting and the ending points, there is a ban imposed on the movement of bicycles by Kolkata Police. So, first of all the prohibitory order needs to be lifted. We have already written to them in April and asked them to do the needful and revert back," a senior official of KMDA said.

When the first wave of COVID-19 had hit the country and lockdown was imposed, many people were found riding bicycles to travel far off distances from their residences to offices on a daily basis.

People continued to ride bicycles for three to four months at a stretch till transport services gradually returned to normal. The idea of encouraging bicycles as environment friendly mode of transport was floated by environmentalists too. Amid strong containment measures in place during the second wave of the pandemic, the movement of bicycles on city roads has again increased manifold.

Sources in Kolkata Police said heavy volume of traffic and lack of sufficient road space in some of the roads is a major challenge. "We have to ensure that leaving road space for cyclists in the proposed routes does not create traffic congestion," a senior official of KP said.Moreover, bicycles come under the category of slow moving vehicles. "The signaling system and the movement of cross traffic need to be adjusted to the pace of the cyclists which may eventually slow down the average pace of the vehicles. There are a lot of aspects that need to be worked out before allowing cycle movement,"added the official. KMDA has suggested putting up guardrails or a similar sort of barricade on the side of the road to create space for bicycle movement.