Chennai’s Teynampet Footpaths Rated 1.36 out of 5 on Accessibility

Chennai: A walk through some of Chennai’s busiest neighbourhood streets has highlighted how inadequate pedestrian infrastructure continues to make every day walking difficult and unsafe after a walkability audit found poor accessibility and footpath quality across stretches of Teynampet.

To mark World Pedestrian Day, Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG) conducted a walkability audit around its office neighbourhood in Teynampet, covering Eldams Road, Thiruvalluvar Street and Venus Colony.

The exercise assessed the accessibility, quality and perceived safety of pedestrian infrastructure along the stretches.

The audit gave the roads an average accessibility rating of just 1.36 out of five while footpath quality received 1.36 out of five. The average rating for perceived pedestrian safety was only 1.91 out of five.

More than 200 pedestrians were informally counted during the walk, highlighting the importance of the streets as every day walking routes.

Across the audited stretches, footpaths were either absent, discontinuous or difficult to access. Where they existed, they were frequently obstructed by parked vehicles, property ramps, garbage and dustbins, electricity infrastructure and street vendors.

In several places, public footpath space had also been fenced off or occupied in ways that effectively pushed pedestrians onto the carriageway.

“I walk 900 metres between the Teynampet Metro station and the office twice a day. This stretch has a temple, flower and vegetable vendors, and what should be a pleasant walk is an obstacle course between moving vehicles, dodging puddles and trying to avoid loose stones and live wires. I’m expecting a baby soon and have to be even more alert when I walk down this road,” said Meenakshi, researcher, electricity governance.

The audit also highlighted how the poor condition of pedestrian infrastructure affects large numbers of people using these streets daily.

“As we walked through the neighbourhood, we found that many streets either had no footpaths at all or footpaths that were unusable. Existing footpaths were often encroached upon by property owners or fenced off as though they were private property. Public spaces meant for everyone are being treated as private extensions of homes, forcing pedestrians onto the road and making something as basic as walking unsafe and difficult,” said Divya Arvind, researcher, sustainable mobility and road safety, CAG.

The findings form part of CAG’s broader work on safer mobility as a member of the Road Safety Network (RSN), a coalition of civil society organisations working to strengthen road safety and promote safer and more inclusive mobility across India.

The need for safer pedestrian infrastructure assumes greater significance given the scale of pedestrian deaths on Indian roads. According to the ministry of road transport and highways’ 2024 road accident data, 36,536 pedestrians were killed in road crashes in 2024, accounting for 20.6% of all road crash fatalities.

CAG said creating safer walking environments required more than constructing footpaths in isolation. Continuous and accessible pedestrian infrastructure, removal of encroachments, safe crossings, appropriate speed management and effective enforcement must be put together to make streets safer for pedestrians.

Speed management, in particular, was important for protecting vulnerable road-users, the CAG said, calling for context-based speed management, active enforcement of speed regulations and effective implementation of the State Road Safety Action Plan (SRSAP).

The walk was part of CAG’s ongoing work on walkability, sustainable mobility and road safety. By examining streets around its own workplace, the organisation sought to assess pedestrian infrastructure from the perspective of people who use the roads every day.