Bhubaneswar, Aug. 5: The city administration today took the initiative of painting some stretches of the busy Rupali Square intersection to spread road safety awareness among people.
The Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) has taken up the initiative along with the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, (BMC), the Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL), the World Resources Institute (WRI India) and various departments of the state government.
The authorities painted certain sections of the crossing with street art to create awareness about various traffic norms, such as lane driving. They were also taught not to cross the zebra line through which pedestrians are supposed to cross roads when the light turns red for automobiles. However, incessant rain since last night occasionally disrupted the programme.
"We have decided to start painting the intersection with street art to make commuters aware about the rules they need to follow. We started last night. But, we couldn't complete the work due to the rain. So, we decided to instead sit and discuss further on the final design to be implemented here," said a BDA official.
The officials today converged into a theoretical workshop and discussed on a blueprint to ensure the safety of citizens on the roads. The officials have decided to implement the model at Rupali Square on a pilot basis.
Assistant commissioner of police (traffic) Jatin Panda, who was a part of the workshop, said the key problems of Rupali Square were overtaking and rash driving. "It is very important to look at the interest of pedestrians as they are the most vulnerable section on such an intersection," said Panda.
Rasulgarh resident Priyabrata Tripathy was surprised while crossing the junction today. "I cross Rupali Square every day to go to work. I was pleasantly surprised to see the street art on the road, but couldn't understand the idea. Someone told me the administration was going to organise a live workshop on road safety there," said Tripathy, a private sector employee.
After the workshop, experts brought certain changes in the final design for the Rupali Square. It has been decided that there would be four island-like structures that would be painted with artistic designs at four corners of Rupali Square. "Those will be called 'traffic bulb outs' which will not only increase the aesthetics of the square from a distance or from top of a building nearby, they would also help people in following road safety rules," said a volunteer.
"The new zebra crossings marked in the new plan will be disabled friendly. It will be located far away from the existing ones. Besides, the 'traffic bulb outs' will act as traffic calming elements as the usually faster traffic will be going down so that the pedestrians will have more breathing space," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.
