In an interesting move that could trick drivers to slow down, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) recently came up with a 3D zebra crossing in the city, which has already become a sight of amusement for commuters and pedestrians alike. After all, three-dimensional street art never fails to impress us! Notably, GHMC’s innovative idea serves the dual purpose of beautification as well as ensuring road safety for all.
Sharing more details, Hari Chandana, IAS, Zonal Commissioner (West), GHMC, says, “I have been getting several requests from the local housing communities at NAC that crossing the roads has been an unsafe experience for them, and that they don’t have pedestrian-friendly roads. So we experimented with 3D road crossings. If you are driving, from a distance the crossing gives an illusion that the road has been dug up or is elevated (because of the 3D shadow effect). So the driver slows down automatically and it gives space for the commuter to cross the road.”
Hari Chandana
At the same time, Chandana is also hoping for a cultural change in the city commuters’ traffic sense. “Our initiative aims to bring a change in the mindset of the people because we need to allow people to commute safely. And we have to move in that direction in the future for a sustainable city. We wanted to make the roads look decent as well as beautify the city. Also, we don’t have the button system at traffic signal junctions using which a pedestrian can change the signal lights to stop the approaching vehicles and walk on. We are planning to bring that policy soon,” she shares.
For any initiative to be successful in the long run, consistent planning and maintenance are important. In the same light, Chandana says, “The paints have to be retouched every six months, so it has to be constantly reviewed. With frequent rains, it took some time for us to execute the plan. Also, we had to block the traffic for the paintings. But implementing this idea on a main road, which has heavy traffic, is an uphill task. People should allow the paints to dry up for at least one day and not walk on it.” However, despite the challenges, the phenomenal response at NAC has immensely encouraged Hyderabad’s authorities to come up with similar crossings at Ramdev Hospital in Kukatpally and Shilparamam. “If all goes well, we are planning to take forward the novel idea to the next level by implementing it near schools and accident-prone areas. It’ll reduce road-related accidents and allow pedestrians to safely cross the road,” explains Chandana.
