Pune: ‘Pedestrian Day’ on Laxmi Road, traffic diversion in heart of city on December 11
Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has been celebrating December 11 as ‘Pedestrian Day’ for the past four years to highlight the rights of pedestrians.
The day will be celebrated this year too on the stretch of the road from Nagarkar Talim Chowk to Umbarya Ganpati Chowk to Garud Ganpati Chowk. Pedestrian Day will be held from 10 am to 8 pm.
In this backdrop, traffic changes will be implemented on Laxmi Road. The stretch of the road will be vehicle-free. Therefore, there would be temporary traffic diversion, said the Traffic Police.
The PMC celebrates December 11 as Pedestrian Day to restore importance to pedestrians, who are the most neglected part of the traffic system. The Laxmi Road stretch from Kunte Chowk to Garud Ganpati Chowk will have ‘no entry’ for vehicles. The road will be decorated attractively. The road will be out of bounds for vehicles from 8 am to 8 pm on December 11.
To attract a large number of citizens to Laxmi Road on Pedestrian Day, Maha Metro will provide special bicycles for passengers from the Kasba and Mahatma Phule Mandai Metro stations to reach Laxmi Road.
PMPML will deploy extra buses to ferry citizens to and from Laxmi Road. A workshop on road safety will be held for children by United Way Mumbai. Another workshop will be organised by Ekansh Trust to sensitise citizens about the physically and visually challenged citizens and universal access to public places. A painting exhibition on road safety of students’ paintings will be held by Save Pune Traffic Movement.
NGO Parisar will hold a panel exhibition on public transport and development of old Pune. IEDTP will organise another panel exhibition on the PMC’s good work. A mega Rangoli will be drawn by Rang Kala Akademi. The Environment Department of the PMC will hold an exhibition on Air Quality Test while NGO Swach will also organise an exhibition.
The alternative routes
*Traffic via Laxmi Road from Belbaug Chowk to Tilak Chowk will be diverted from Sevasadan Chowk to Bajirao Road
*Traffic from Kumthekar Road to Laxmi Road will head straight to Chitale Chowk and will go via Bajirao Road to desired destinations
*Traffic from Lokhande Talim to Kunte Chowk will not take Laxmi Road but go straight via Kelkar Road to Tilak Chowk to their destinations
