No skywalks, speed breakers: Crossing Old Madras Road a nightmare for pedestrians

Bengaluru: For pedestrians crossing the Old Madras Road near RMZ Infinity building and Byappanahalli metro station it is often a close shave, as there is no skywalk or pedestrian crossing, and motorists often zip through. 

For their own safety, the employees working at offices located in RMZ building cross the road only in groups. Opposite the building there is a mall which also experiences heavy footfalls. 

But despite such heavy movement of pedestrians in the area, the civic authorities have not even put up a pedestrian signal, let alone a skywalk. 

Same is the case near Byappanahalli metro station.

Thomas Roy, who works as a financial analyst in one of the companies located in RMZ building told Deccan Chronicle, “There are hundreds of people crossing the road and it is very dangerous. The vehicles zip past at more than 80 kmph as it is a highway. It takes more than 10 minutes to get to the other side during peak hours. We also make sure that we cross the road in groups.”

“We desperately need a skywalk, if not there is a major accident bound to happen. The civic authorities should wake up before lives are lost. If not a skywalk, at least they can construct speed breakers on either side, which would slow down the speeding vehicles,” Roy added.

Another employee, Trisha, said that it is not only about crossing the roads, the footpaths on either side is occupied by food vendors, cab and auto drivers park their vehicles and loiter around and this makes us uncomfortable to use these pavements. The Byappanahalli police station is also located nearby yet no action is taken against these people, she added.

A senior police officer said, “The entire stretch of Old Madras Road and K.R. Puram, which is a highway and on the other side it is Whitefield, Bellandur and Marathahalli, which is on Outer Ring Road and many companies are located. We have seen people crossing the roads by putting their lives on line, so we have identified the spots where pedestrians usually cross and have deployed a traffic police constables to assist them during peak hours.”

The officer also mentioned that we cannot always blame the motorists for accidents, even pedestrians should avoid jay walking on busy roads. 

The BBMP officials, when contacted, said they will discuss with the senior officers and ensure that the pavements are cleared and a decision will be taken at the earliest to build a skywalk.