Problems with new flyovers
February 22: A month ago, the Moti Bagh flyover was opened for traffic. And the one near Bhikaji Cama Place would be opened soon. Both suffer from those same old problems again. One in which some seemingly small but key basics have been ignored. The ones which can often mean the difference between safety and danger. For, not a single traffic signage has been put-up yet on these two flyovers. Devoid
of signage, the flyovers are "sitting ducks" for accidents,
akin to the one that happened in Shahdara flyover. A review of
these two flyovers revealed that the entire stretch of the flyover
needed different signage to ensure better road safety. No speed limit boards: There are no speed limit signs at both flyovers. Specially built to handle heavy traffic in rush hours and located on the busy outer Ring Road, the vehicles would speed and at times overspeed on the relatively vacant stretches. "On such flyovers where the gradient of the descent is quite sharp, vehicles are prone to ply at high-speed. Such a free flow of traffic could lead to accidents," said Gautam Chatterjee, an author on road safety. Sharp curve: The bus-lane at the Bhikaji Cama flyover, in its descent towards the Raj Nagar, takes a sudden and sharp left curve. "Such curves could prove fatal as the speeding buses at the descent of the flyover, might not be able to maintain their lanes and can bump-into surrounding vehicles," added another expert. No reflectors: The flyover needs to have reflectors for night, so that the drivers can see its rails and the parapet. At night, especially in the absence of proper lighting, chances of vehicles veering towards the parapets are high. Similarly, the signage of various traffic symbols need to be painted on luminous boards. No signage at the descent: The descent of the flyover must have a signage, indicating "merging traffic ahead...go slow". "Absence of such signages could lead to severe crashes because of merging vehicles on the road ahead," said an expert. Strangely enough, although the Moti Bagh flyover does not have any traffic signage, "advertisement boards" have been put-up on light-posts throughout the stretch. The police are emphatic this wrong. "There is a law, which says advertisement boards, cannot be placed on the approaches of the flyovers. Instead there should be traffic signage," said Maxwell Pereira, joint commissioner of police (traffic). Pereira maintains that these structures need to be monitored by the local bodies but adds"We point out the road engineering and the road safety features that are visible externally. No flyover is exempt from the regular features of a normal road." With the road safety features, especially the signage, of these flyovers not in place, Delhiites should just pray that another mishap akin to the one in Shahdara flyover is not repeated.
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