Sachivalaya Marg all set to become Urban Parkway of Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: Sachivalya Marg, a prominent landmark in the city, housing some of the prestigious state institutions and employment centres is all set to witness a complete transformation to become a unique Urban Parkway with the integration of landscape, greenery and public plazas in the street design.

In line with the Street Design Guidelines developed by the city, the proposed design of Sachivalaya Marg, from Airport Square to Acharya Vihar Square, is envisaged to be a complete street with equitable road space for all users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motor vehicles.

This redeveloped street will bring in new experience for pedestrians, especially kids, as it will have play areas, activity zones and wider footpaths on both sides shaded with ample trees.

Maintaining the existing greenery and mature tree canopy as an asset of the street, most of the existing trees will be retained during the redevelopment process.

The streetscape ensures consistent motorable road space of six lanes from the existing four lanes for the smooth and efficient flow of traffic. Provisions have been made to create dedicated service lanes near offices and institutions to minimize obstruction on the main travel lanes, thereby reducing the chances of accidents.

Special focus has been given to preparing safer junction designs including raised table top crossings to facilitate easy road crossings for pedestrians.

In line with the proposed modernization of city bus service and augmentation of the fleet, the redeveloped street will have multiple bus stops on each side of the road at an optimum spacing to ensure easy access to public transport.

The connecting streets which will also undergo redevelopment with Sachivalaya Marg include Udyan Marg, Rajpath, Mahatma Gandhi Marg, Madhusudan Marg and Baya Baba road, all of which connect the Sachivalay marg to Janpath.

As part of this planned network, each street is designed with context-specific requirements such as the busy Mahatma Gandhi Marg will be beautified with pedestrian-friendly plazas and AG Square and Rajpath will have design interventions for improving traffic flow along the street.

The design for this street has been prepared by Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) through its Bhubaneswar Urban Knowledge Centre (BUKC), in consultation with Public Works Dept., while the redevelopment of the street will be undertaken by Public Works Dept. of Govt. of Odisha.

The design has provisions for creating appropriate parking facilities near vending zones, offices and institutions, along with the addition of public conveyance facilities such as seating areas, benches, street furniture, e-toilets, water ATMs, public plazas cum activity zones, information kiosks, directional signage etc.

The project incorporates provisions for several smart features and components such as e-vehicle charging points, solar powered adaptive traffic signal control system, LED street lights, video surveillance system etc. integrated into the design.

While the street has been designed to suffice future demand, as an environment-friendly measure, it has been planned to adopt eco-friendly road construction technology using waste plastic in the construction of the road.