Having faced serious objections from residents and traders in Gandhi Bazaar main road, the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) has shelved the idea to pedestrianise the entire stretch.
The designs and drawings the DULT posted in public domain is different from its initial proposal to pedestrianise the stretch. Traders and residents argued against the proposal saying it would cause loss to business besides swelling traffic in the adjacent streets.
“Initially, we were of the opinion that the street should be pedestrianised, but after resistance from the stakeholders, we decided to drop the plan. Now, we have decided to allow bi-directional vehicular movement,” senior urban planner at DULT Ann Jacob told DH.
“Parking is provided at multiple points in an organised way to avoid chaos,” she added.
Among the minor changes the DULT made in its design was a four-metre space between shops on the stretch and shops set up for vendors to allow pedestrians to walk.
“The initial plan to construct a large parking area outside the bazaar has changed to multiple parking lots at organised locations,” Ann added.
The public exhibition of designs and drawings, which also intends to collect suggestions from the public, will be open till Wednesday evening at Tagore Circle.
“Traders and vendors had submitted a few suggestions last month. We have responded to them. Now, we will wait for the exhibition to end and then chalk out the future course of action based on the suggestions and responses received,” said Manjula V, Commissioner, DULT.