Expert: Careful planning, study, design must for building skywalks

Rachana Ramesh | NT

Bengaluru: Despite sky - walks existing in several neighborhoods across the city to ensure pedestrian safety, pedestrians in Bengaluru choose to navigate through congested roads filled with traffic or jump through tall barricades to cross roads.

Mobility experts say that while skywalks are very much necessary to protect pedestrian safety, their design must be effective enough to encourage pedestrians to opt for them, increasing footfall. According to reports, out of 160 skywalks planned across the city, 40 are currently in a functional state, and 20 more are under construction.

One of the skywalks that have been long under construction now connects either side of the Satellite Bus Stand on the busy Mysuru Road. This is the third skywalk that has propped up within a stretch of just one kilometer.

Locals say that these infrastructures are a waste of taxpayers’ money as they are built only a stone’s throw away from traffic signals, enabling pedestrians to cross the road when the signal turns red. During peak hours, a traffic cop is also stationed at the signal to enable the smooth movement of vehicles and to ensure pedestrian safety.

Using skywalks requires the physical effort of climbing and getting down a fleet of stairs, and then again, navigating to reach the designated location. While many of these have a lift installed to facilitate the disabled and elderly crowd, their functionality cannot be relied upon.

“If you do not do it with careful planning, study, and design you will always have loopholes. In many cases, the skywalks and even underpasses within the city are not being used effectively,” said Dr Ashish Verma, Mobility Expert, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), adding that the placement of these skywalks is crucial.

“Sometimes, you see that there are important buildings and spots in the vicinity of a given point. If the skywalk is extended to reach these locations directly, it will naturally encourage pedestrians to choose the skywalk over crossing roads,” he explained. A regular commuter using the Satellite Bus Stand concurred with the same.

“If they extended the skywalk in such a way that the exit directly led me to the bus stop, I would definitely choose it. With the current skywalk, the exit is not even near the entrance of the bus stand. It would be much easier if I chose the road,” he said.

“The mutilation of Residency road pavement with a skywalk instead of a signalled grade-level pedestrian crossing usable to all. Cometh the election, cometh the concrete,” tweeted Tara Krishnaswamy, an author, along with a picture of pillars of a skywalk being put up on Residency road. Residents of the city have been advocating for effective pedestrian safety through signalled crossing, but skywalks continue to prop up.