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Parking vs pedestrians - What about Brigade Road?

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TrafficPedestrian Infrastructure

I believe a similar survey (like Commercial St.)should be done on Brigade Road - at the very least they should ban parking on Brigade Road betweem MG and Residency Roads. Instead the govt seems to be planning on wasting money on yet another pointless plan

http://www.deccanherald.c...

The 85 cars parked on Brigade Road cause terrific traffic problems on that small stretch of road. In my opinion the road should be closed to traffic and completely pedestrianized and instead cars can be made to go around Mayo Hall. 

Even if this is not possible certainly they should not allow parking on the street and widen pavements for people - otherwise there is so much stress.

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Ramesh

 

 

 

Comments

silkboard's picture

Bang on - why invest on a parking system?

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I logged in to post about this same thing, as per TOI report, there are 85 car park spots, and the "empty spot indicator" system will cost Rs 35 lakh or upwards.

I rarely go to that side of town, is it true that no buses ply on this stretch of brigade road? On one hand, we want to popularize Hop on Hop off, Blue line etc services, and on other hand, we are investing in parking facilities right on top of this road in the downtown?

How much is the parking fee here? What responsibility has the shopkeeper association of this area shown so far to promote public transport? When this road was seeing rapid reconstruction (late 90s onwards and early 2000s), why did the renovated fancy buildings not include provision for parking in their basements?

With Big10 and Hop on Hop off buses, at least going to this shopping district is really easy. I mean REALLY EASY. Investing in parking is not going to send any right signals.

sanchitnis's picture

Any new planning on

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Any new planning on MG Road/Brigade road should take into account the Metro station and the HSRL to BIA.

I have not yet seen any traffic plan to support the increased number of cars. May be there need to be tunnels/elevated roads from the points where big-10 routes touch the proposed inner core ring road to HSRL terminus.

 
Naveen's picture

Messing It Up Further !

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Absolutely.

I too cannot fathom why they are going in for "Parking Space Availability Indicators" when we already have Big-10s touching right upto St.Patricks, Brigade road. I had stated many times earlier too that Brigade rd must be pedestrianized between War memorial & Cauvery emporium. The upcoming Metro station is also going to be extremely convenient for Brigade road shoppers.

HSRL to BIA will not be effected as it commences from BRV & proceeds past Minsk square along Chowdiah road. BIA buses (with luggage racks) may continue pickups from various locations & feed the HSRL at BRV /Police grounds, & will also not be effected.

Inner Core Ring rd (elevated) may never come up as the complications appear to be too many.

idontspam's picture

I like the idea

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It is sad to see the rest of the CBD cant even get meters. BBMP should just put in meters themselves instead of waiting for private investors who are not coming. At least they will create parking inspector jobs.

Good thing if the VMS can indeed be made to work. My only worry is these become useless after a while as the data become unreliable. How many innovations have seen abandoned.

When are they going to start working on congestion charging?

Rithesh's picture

Connect these roads with parking zones

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Best way forward would be to make the whole of Brigade Road/MG Road/Commercial St. and surrounding regions parking free. If implemented in bits and pieces the parking will spill over to surrounding regions.

One workable solution is to connect parking zones and these areas with HOHO/KS type services. The TTMCs at Shantinagar and Shivajinagar can serve as parking zones.

Actually the current HOHO service does this - but it is not advertised well.

That way vehicles entry these regions will reduce and also congestion caused because of parking on these roads can be avoided.

And for BMTC not only will it increase ridership - it can also earn more money from parking fees in these TTMCs.

There is a lot of opposition to such plans from the traders on these roads, they feel that these steps might affect their revenues - which i dont think is justified.

Srivatsava's picture

Why not provide a parking complex?

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    The BBMP should come up with a parking complex in the vicinity; a dedicated parking complex unlike the garuda mall parking complex - which is catering exclusive to the malll!!  If one is available much closer to MG Road, it will aid to reduce/remove parking from MG road as well and the the road space saved can be used for pedestrian facilities.

Once such a parking complex is available, set up/move  the same parking information system there, connect them to the VMS and provide this info to motorists before they enter the CBD.   If the motorists could know the available numer of lots in different parking lots, they can directly move to the one 'conveniently connected' to their destination, be it bybus, subways, footpaths and Zebra crossings, autos etc....

     I second IDS, that BBMP should take the lead to provide these simple services.

-Srivatsava V

-Srivatsava V

Vasanthkumar Mysoremath's picture

Part Parade grounds-underground parking-cum-Tourist attraction?

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We know historical parade ground will be lying vacant 24X7 except for two or three days in a year.  In the present days of paucity of space for human usage,  whether it would be worth keeping idle such valuable space needs to be considered seriously.  Parades can be held in front of Vidhana/Vikaasa Soudhas on Dr.Ambedkar Veedhi.

Suggestions for alternate use of Parade Grounds -

Extend Cariappa Garden,

plant as many carbon absorbing saplings as also varieties that yield nectar, flowers, fruits, seeds and herbal and aromatic plants to act as Carbon Sink to this part of CBD and to act as a source of food chain for birds, bees, butterflies, insects whose habitats/trees have been destroyed along the bund of MG Road for METRO.  

In a portion towards officers mess, construct underground parking with PPP,

On top of that, create a hanging gardens

Such main garden to contain and decorated with artworks from stone, wood with shaded greens

In a corner, provide space for artists/budding artists to express their painting skills anytime, anyday and also to sell their art works by paying a certain percentage to the authorities who will be handling a PPP model of parking facility. 

Provide a small open air stage for performing artists like folk dance, singing etc. Rural artists may be invited to perform every day evenings for fixed hours since a lot of foreigners / floating population will be moving along in that part of CBD.  These will be like value added shopping experience and also help artists, folk artists, tourism etc.  It could be a win win situation.

BUT PLEASE, PLEASE, NO CONCRETE ABOVE THE GROUND. 

-Vasanthkumar Mysoremath  

 

idontspam's picture

Usage of parade ground

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We know historical parade ground will be lying vacant 24X7 except for two or three days in a year.

The military can allow the use for the rest of the days to the public by growing some greenery and putting up some furniture. They can open it up on the condition that it can be closed when the army needs to use it. We are grateful to them for Cariappa park and hope they do this also. Its best if Parade grounds lie with the army so it doesnt become a mess.

rs's picture

I think we have had a

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I think we have had a similar discussion some time ago - though as always its never clear where these discussions go. Commenting on Praja is basically speaking to the converted - its almost `alt.support.bangalore-infrastructure'

Nevertheless - it woudl be fantastic if they could build an underground parking below Maneckshaw ground and close Brigade road ( and Church Street etc, up to St. Marks road ) and M.G. Road as well between Anil Kumble circle and Brigade road, to traffic - except perhaps for HOHO busses on MG Road. Essentially allow delivery trucks etc. in the mornings till about 11 and  clean up trucks after midnight.

Right now I am in Germany, where every town has a large pedestrian zone, and its such a pleasure to walk and shop without any tension. Just a little bit of thought can do the same for Bangalore. But i suspect there is no political will.

Ramesh

 

Naveen's picture

Parade Grounds - Best to leave it

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There are parking lots already available between Cauvery emporium & Cubbon road (extension of brigade rd towards commercial st.). Further, space will be available on MG rd itself further down from Cauvery emporium (towards Mayo hall) once the Metro work is completed (as it used to be before Metro work started). The Metro will also provide a convenient station on MG rd, close to Brigade rd. Hop-On/Off or Metro feeder buses can of course ply through the shopping areas.

With all these options for easy accessibility, I dont see why additional underground parking, or other parking space additions are essential in the area. Brigade rd, Church st. & MG rd (between Anil Kumble circle & Brigade rd jn) can easily be pedestrianized once the Metro is up & running.

It may be best to leave parade grounds as it is, but greenery inside could be improved - much of it is barren now with only a handful of trees.

das's picture

So what are we waiting for ? Let's start working !

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@RS,

I agree with this point of yours.

"I think we have had a similar discussion some time ago - though as always its never clear where these discussions go. Commenting on Praja is basically speaking to the converted...."

I have done some ground work in Commercial St.

We have a collection of factors that make Commercial St. the ideal choice to have Bangalore's first vehicle-free street.
1. The shoppers want it.
2. The shop owners want it.
3. It is a destination in itself, not a thoroughfare.

There could be a lot of benefits for the city in terms of changing its automobile-addicted culture. We might see some or all of these happening.
1. Get people used to the idea of an automobile-free area.
2. In time they will hopefully get addicted to the idea, and demand it in other localities
3. They will realize the harm that over-dependence on private automobiles is doing to them and to the city.
4. Acceptance of public transport will rise, resulting in reduction in use of private transport.

About 20,000 people visit Commercial St. every day on an average, and these happen to be users of private vehicles. The educational value of implementing this project is therefore huge.

What we need is a small group of people to work consistently on converting this street to pedestrian-only. Let's stop wasting electrons on this issue and get working on it.

Any volunteers willing to join the group ? I hereby volunteer.

 

silkboard's picture

Das - lead us please, I will join

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Let us start this as a Project and see what support we get.

Who would we need to work with

  • Commercial Street shopkeeprs - may have to sell them the value of doing this.
  • BBMP - for any road alterations or new street furniture
  • Traffic Police - signs and obstructions to prevent traffic entry
  • BMTC - make them run buses on Commercial street? Possible to have this road as bus/shuttle and pedestrian only? (arguable, but just putting it here)

Let us start a new post, and use pictures etc to prepare a plan. And then lets go meet above people one by one to push for it.

Our job will be to put a case for doing such "first" in Bangalore. The exact implementation may be the prerogative of experts that BBMP may eventually assign for this project. We should be okay with that (the idea may win, but all our specific point-suggestions may not).

Das sir - please lead this for us. We know how active and enthusiastic you are. Some of us regulars (Murali, Srivathsa, Rithesh, Syed, Veera, Rohith and more) have already put our foot into some other projects, this exciting project may "convert" new people from online to on-ground.

das's picture

Will lead, let's form the group

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Shop owners association - I have spoken to the head of the association. They are already sold on the idea.

BBMP - there will be road alterations and street furniture. We need to get their cooperation.
Traffic Police - the ADGP traffic is already in favour of increasing pedestrianization, so cooperation should not be a problem.
BMTC - Should see how Comm. St. can be part of the KS network, connecting nearby parking spaces to the street.

An extremely important thing is to involve the Shopkeepers Association every step of the way. Ideally they should spearhead the project, we do the facilitation and coordination.

The association already has a detailed pedestrian-only street plan made from last time (5 years ago), with street furniture, etc. Was done pro-bono by a prominent architects firm. This can be starting point, maybe the same firm can make an updated plan.

Let's form the group, then start by meeting the Shop owners association first.

I can lead, but have no contacts in the various government bodies. It would be ideal if we can get on board some Praja people with the contacts - BBMP, Police, BMTC.

 

psaram42's picture

I would like to join this project

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I would like to join this project group, if you like. It would be great to start with a meeting of this group with the association people. When do we meet the B Road association people?

PSA

s_yajaman's picture

Begin with a limited duration pilot

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Das sir,

It is excellent that the shop owner's association is with you.  Any project like this needs to be a win-win for all concerned. 

We had a similar situation in our apartment where we wanted to make the front driveway a no drive zone.  Initially lots of resistance.  But we suggested a 2 hr time in the evening when children used to play a lot as a pilot project. Now we have a 24hr no-drive zone.

So maybe you work with the shop-owners to start this on say one or two weekends maybe a month from now and learn from it.  What has been the shopkeepers' experience?  What about car owners?  Shoppers?  Where are the difficulties?  Doing it as a pilot gives people the confidence that if things go wrong we can go back to the good/bad old days.  if business goes up then it is a success story for many other parts of Bangalore.

Srivathsa

 

Drive safe.  It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.

rs's picture

Great

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Hi

I think Srivathsa is right - one has to start slowly as people are reluctant to change. People do not want to mess with the status quo, even though its not so great, for fear that an alternative may be worse.

One way, perhaps, would be to start with Sunday  when trafffic is less, so the initial traffic confusion that is bound to be caused will not be there. Also, alternative traffic options can be found.

I am away from Bangalore till the end of June so cannot help directly but would like to help in whatever way I can.

One thing that really irritates me about the Commercial street area is that while the BDA/BBMP or someone made a large parking structure at ShivajiNagar bus stand they promptly leased it out to HP for their private use. This is ridiculous. While they may be making the same amount of money, or more, the purpose of the parking structure is not just to make money, but to provide a service to the citizens, and in that by restricting it to HP employees it is failing in its goal.

Ramesh

 

das's picture

I think BMTC didn't have a choice

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I think the original idea was 'park and ride' - to enable people to come on their vehicles to Shivajinagar bus stand, park their vehicles there, then take the bus. Nobody used it, so it was rented out to HP.

Around 2002 (?) when I initially started cycling to work I couldn't do the whole 15 km. stretch (more of a mental block), so I used to actually be one of the rare 'park and ride' guys. Used to cycle up from my home in Sadashivanagar to Shivajinagar, park the cycle there, take the bus to my office in Jayanagar. On the way back I used to do the reverse. Worked beautifully till I developed the mental strength to cycle the whole way.

When our family goes to MG Road or Commercial St. nowadays we actually park the car in the Shivajinagar bus stand.

I used to notice the empty parking space in 2002, and notice the empty space now too.

It's also a matter of publicity. Very few people know about it. When we do the Commercial St. 'pedestrian-only' project this is one of the parking places that we must think of.

silkboard's picture

das, Anathram, srivathsa - shall we meet on Apr 23?

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First of all, sorry for missing in action last 3-4 days. Wish Praja type things were my day job, but well.

Anyway. Let us kick this off via a meeting. This is a much more tangible, actionable item, and all parties concerned are approachable and local.

Swabhimana is doing a lot of work (not that much visible on this website, or most activist e-groups), they should be posting their work details (campaign for pedestrians) very soon. Srivathsa has been interacting with them and should update us soon.

We should be able to rope them in, and do this as a sort of sub-project unxer their effort. Just thinking aloud and suggesting this because they are already going and meeting BBMP, Traffic Police etc.

Regardless of modalities, let us meet soon. How about Thursday, April 23, after we are all done with our votes. All companies would anyway declare a holiday on poll day, we should all be free.

Haven't had the open Praja meeting for a while now. We can meet at Lal Bagh, say at 11 AM.

silkboard's picture

das, forgot to add, contacts not a problem

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Das, spread across various members here on Praja, we have the contacts to reach BBMP, BMTC, Traffic Police. So far, they have all been readily accessible.

But let us reach them a bit later, first let us plan what we'd do, and interact with Shopowners association.

Let us do it Praja-style - use this website to plan and coordinate, and minimize on face to face meetings.

Let me create a project called "Pedestrianization in shopping areas". Commercial Street will be the first one. Perhaps Brigade road next, and Jaynagar 4th Block (Geeta Colony area) next :)

psaram42's picture

Yes we will meet on 2009 April 23rd

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 I will be there at 11:00 hrs at lal Bagh West gate.

PSA

das's picture

April 23rd it is

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Right, will be there. 11 AM, LB West Gate. Orange color bicycle.

Naveen's picture

Wish I could Meet Too

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I will out of town & will arrive back on 23rd/AM. Hence, I may not be able to make it for this meet. If the meet is sometime later (evening) on 23rd, I could try to be there as well.

das's picture

Let's create the project and shift there

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@silkboard,

Can you please create the project "Pedestrianization in shopping areas" ASAP ?

Also, should we postpone the meeting to late afternoon so Naveen can also be there ? May also make sense in case some of us get delayed by the voting.

@Naveen,

What time can you come ?

 

 

Naveen's picture

Meet on 23rd

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Das - I can join 23rd after about 4PM.

das's picture

Rest of the group - any problems with 4 PM ?

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4 PM is OK with me.

How about the rest of the group ?

psaram42's picture

23 rd meet

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 4 PM is ok for me too

PSA

 

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