Cycle track project may fail

Chennai: The Greater Chennai Corporation’s K.K. Nagar cycle track project may turn out to be a failure unless the local body sensitises users about its purpose.
The success of the project, according to Triple O Studios co-founder Tahaer Zoyab who was instrumental in designing the 3.8 km cycle track encompassing P.T. Rajan Salai, Ramaswamy Salai, Lakshmanaswamy Salai and Alagiriswamy Salai, depends on attitudinal shift among the public.

Even as work is progressing steadily on the city’s first ‘elevated’ cycle track, the lack of sensitivity is evidenced by the fact that already the space carved out from the carriageway has been lost to parked cars and motorbikes. “The idea of elevated cycle track is new to city. It was necessary because if we had earmarked a portion on carriageway, then we would have been writing it off to bikers almost immediately,” said Zoyab.

However, a lot of barriers ought to be removed before the two metre space becomes an actual pavement. Corporation officials mourned to I about the lack of coordination between service departments.

“There are junction boxes and transformers, not to forget vendors and small businesses, occupying space where the footpath is supposed to come up. The TNEB barely minds our requests regarding shifting the boxes because a cycle track project has zero benefits but only implications, in the form of additional work, for them,” said an official.

But while institutional nonchalance is a nuisance, the other side of the coin is that the public, to whom the project is supposed to benefit, see it as yet another project “where corrupt officials siphon off money,” as told to this correspondent by an auto driver in the locality.

Mani, who was cycling to his workplace on Lakshmanaswamy Salai, when asked whether he thought he would use the dedicated cycle track, replied that he was content cycling on the road in the midst of speeding buses, cars and motorcycles.

“Of course, I would want to cycle without hindrance. But this project is doomed to fail because...,” (pointing at the cars parked on the cycle track) “...look at all the cars. There are so many apartments here and there are people driving in and out of this complex in cars everyday. All of them park on the pavement. In the end, I am going to be cycling on the road. Why bother to spend money on some track?” he asked.

Raghavan, a tailor working on the side of a pavement, is quick to point out that with carriageway decreasing due to the work, traffic congestion has increased on the road, partly due to the presence of affluent schools in the locality.

However, Zoyab begs to differ. “The problem is people think that these projects are somehow anti-car. Yes, the carriageway space has lessened but that is to force drivers to slow down when driving and not to increase congestion,” he said.

“The project is, in all likelihood, going to fail. But this is a baby step. We know we have to fail first in order to succeed. When we conducted a stakeholders meet for the project, less than one per cent of K.K. Nagar’s resident public turned up. But people’s mindset will change, may be not tomorrow but will happen eventually,” he added.