Foot overbridge to middle of road

NEW DELHI: This is a foot overbridge which drops you in the middle of the road, on a divider. Part of the UP link project, the FOB at Mayur Vihar Phase-I joins a footpath on the side of the road and the divider. The road leading from Noida to Akshardham Temple and beyond has been split into two parts and the FOB constructed, not so much to facilitate pedestrians but ensure signal-free movement of traffic under it, according to PWD officials.
So, what happens to people who wish to cross over to Mayur Vihar after getting down from the FOB.They can brave the traffic and sprint across to the other side to walk under the flyover, or walk backwards towards a red light and then cross the road. The red light has been installed for vehicles that will be turning right into Mayur Vihar.
The PWD claims the FOB was constructed after a proper survey was carried out. "The survey had concluded that the road sees a lot of pedestrian movement,'' added the official. That, however, doesn't seem to be the case.
The single-lane flyover that runs parallel to the road has been made to facilitate signal-free movement of traffic from Pushta to Noida. It goes over the Mayur Vihar Phase-I junction.
"A total of three FOBs have been planned on the UP Link Road. These will be constructed at a cost of Rs 6 crore and all of them will have lifts. This work should be completed soon,'' said an official. The PWD claims that one reason why the consultant had recommended construction of an FOB here was that once "Barapullah Phase-III takes off, connecting south Delhi with East, the elevated road will most likely descend at this junction. This road will then see a lot of pedestrian movement and the FOB will be widely used by people,'' said an official.
With hardly any pedestrian movement visible on this stretch, this FOB seems to be a prime example of ill-planning by government agencies that leads to waste of public money.
At Nehru Place, near Kalkaji Mandir, the FOB constructed by PWD is hardly being used by pedestrians. On Thursday, they could be seen crossing over all along the stretch - from the Nehru Place crossing to the DTC depot - by jumping over the high divider and braving the heavy traffic.
This FOB does not have an escalator or lift and has stairs on one side along with a ramp. The PWD admits that this design is no longer being used as it not only looks bad but is hardly used by pedestrians. "The ramps were made to facilitate movement of physically-challenged people. But such FOBs are not very successful. So now we are making FOB with lifts,'' said an official.