The much-awaited Cubbon Road bicycle lane and pedestrian walkway are now open for public.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has completed 700 m of the bicycle lane between Manipal Centre and Minsk Square. Work on the remaining 1.3 km stretch is in progress. The BBMP had started the work in May 2018.
“BBMP has completed around 50% of the work on the bicycle lane and pedestrian path. The work from Manipal Centre to the junction on Kamaraj Road is complete. It is now open for cyclists and pedestrians,” BBMP chief engineer (road infrastructure), Somashekar S told DH.
“The remaining work form the Kamaraj Junction to Minsk Square is in progress and will be completed soon,” he added.
The Palike has roped in a private company for the maintenance of the bicycle lane and footpath. The company will maintain the lane and walkway under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme.
According to another BBMP official, in the future, the Cubbon Road stretch will be connected to a larger network of bicycle lanes which will be developed in association with the Department of Urban Land Transport (DULT). "The BBMP and DULT will set up an 80 km bicycle track network in the city,” he said.
The civic body has identified spots for setting up bicycle parking hubs at 271 locations in Central, North and East Bengaluru. In December 2018, a tender for the construction of the parking hubs costing Rs 7.72 crore was rolled out by the corporation.
Based on the recommendation and the site report submitted by the DULT, the civic major will begin infrastructure works to construct three different types of bicycle parking hubs. Sources in the BBMP said the 271 locations identified for the parking hubs are spread over an area of 28 sq km.
The Palike is also planting a variety of saplings and flowering plants along the Cubbon Road to sustain the greenery on the stretch.