The ITO skywalk, which opened to the public on October 15, doesn’t have many takers as yet and the Delhi government’s Public Works Department (PWD) plans to install iron railings on footpaths at the busy traffic junction to prevent pedestrians from crossing the road wherever they want to.
An initial analysis by PWD expected around 30,000 pedestrians to use the skywalk every day. But since its inauguration, the combined footfalls at the longest pedestrian bridge in Delhi has only reached a few hundred. The department also plans to deploy marshals to direct pedestrians to the newly constructed walkway.
PWD officials say the idea is to get people to use the skywalk, even if this requires blocking their access to the road so as to ensure this walkway, which cost around ~54.84 crore, does not face the fate of most other foot-over bridges in the city, officials said.
Umesh Mishra, engineer-in-chief, Delhi PWD confirmed the department’s plan regarding railings for footpaths and marshals.
Hindustan Times reporters have tracked the usage during peak hours of the skywalk at ITO intersection since its inauguration. For two days after the opening, the skywalk was almost deserted during peak hours with only a few people using it. Though the usage increased in subsequent days, traffic police and PWD officials agree that it is still much lower than the estimates.
“The usage has been low, especially for a high-cost project such as this. We are also stopping people from crossing at the intersection and using the foot-over bridge instead,” said a Delhi traffic police official stationed at the intersection who asked not to be named.
The skywalk has eight entry exit points and seven lifts.
A 2014 study conducted by University of Queensland, Australia, on the usage of pedestrian facilities in the national capital showed that only 29% of people on foot used foot-over bridges, even if crossing the road meant standing at the signal for several minutes and risking getting hit by fast approaching vehicles.
Sewa Ram, a professor of transport planning at the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), said pedestrians generally have the tendency of walking on the same level and don’t prefer a change of surface while walking. If given a chance, they also tend to avoid detours.
“Commuters going towards the ITO crossing or the PWD headquarters from Tilak Bridge have little use for this skywalk. They should have designed it in a way so that one can reach ITO intersection without any detour,” Ram added.
Praboddha Sengupta, a commuter behaviour analyst, said that cities world over are doing away with foot-over bridges and providing pedestrians with facilities to cross the road at intersections.
“By creating such glorified over-bridges you are sending out messages that vehicles are more important in the scheme of things. Instead of creating detours for pedestrians, create detours and elevated corridors for vehicles,” said Sengupta.
The skywalk from the Pragati Maidan Metro Station has four arms. The first exits at the Mathura Road bus stand; the second at the Tilak Bridge Railway Station via Lady Irwin College; the third at the Bal Gangadhar Tilak statue on Tilak Marg and the Institute of Archaeology building on Sikandra Road; and the fourth, a ramp that descends near the Hanuman Temple on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg.
First Published: Oct 21, 2018 07:04 IST
