Take for example Kanakapura Road...Now suppose I want to cross the road at Yelachenahalli.
This is the whole crux of urban planning.
How did you get to that spot in yelachenahalli? Being a pedestrian you either got dropped off by a bus at that spot or you walked up to there from a cross street. In either case you would ideally have a ped xing which you can use to cross over, as both a junction and a bus stop call for a xing. This is why bus stops are usually placed near junctions so they can use the ped xing already there. If there are junctions and cross streets along Kanakpura road then authorities need to put up at-grade/underground/overhead cross walks at each junction (or eliminate junctions as need be)
It also depends on what type of street this is. If it is a highway or arterial road. You are not expected to have shops etc along the roadside that you will want to use by crossing over. Any facilities for public will need to be away from the highway and should be reachable by public transport. The urban planning is done such that highways and arterial streets do not need to have cross walks every 300mts.
Reach of PT plays a big part in this pedestrian story. PT and pedestrianization go together. If planned well you should be able to bump into a bus stop at a 500mts from any point, then you should be able to take a feeder bus to your destination which is more than walkable distance. The planning of the routes also has to ensure it connects places across highways.Most residential and commercial areas should be connected by PT, It is only internal walk you have to do by foot. Mixed use development is allowed only within areas where the streets are local/sub-arterial and can have ped xings every 300mts. So you dont actually have to walk to kanakpura road at all, take a bus from your area which takes you to the place across the street.
All these are interlinked. But not all can be fixed at one shot and there is no wrong place to start. Meanwhile we will have to get used to the fact that planning our walk is as important as planning our drive.
[Note: promoted from a comment on this post about road dividers - moderator]
Forward this Blog entry
Comments
Confusing Mixed use
Idontspam,
I have heard of “mixed land use”, but not just "mixed use". So I Google to find an interesting reference:
“23 June 2006 - The three buzz phrases one hears from contemporary land-use planners in the United States are 'mixed-use', 'infill' and 'transit-oriented development'. What do these buzz words mean and how are they important to planners and citizens in the cancerously growing Indian metros?”
Is our city planning in Bangalore primitive?
PSA
Planning and rejuvenation
Is our city planning in Bangalore primitive?
We have missed the planning bus. Its time for rejuvenation. This time go area wise. Character of areas can be defined with local administration. Break down BBMP planning to areas and put power in smaller segments of population. While ChickpetAkkipet/Balepet can be made walking/cycling zones, EC can retain its contemporary look. At a tactical level IRC standards already exist it is plain lack of enforcement and treatment of the IRC guidelines with contempt instead of adopting it and improving on it.
All we need to do is define the character of what exists today and how to preserve going forward. Development is not static or is never done and complete, considering the situation today we need green and sustainable means of transport. After 200 years new cities popping up around will look different and current Bangalore will become historic. All we need to ensure is not have chaos and improve the quality of human life.
Tweetenator