UT’s experiment ‘rumble strips’ a stumbling block for cyclists

“I have a back problem. Everytime I pass this roundabout,my problem aggravates,due to the sudden jerks of rumble strips. I do not know whose brain child this is,” an aggrieved commuter,Sant Kumar Jain,resident of Sector 44,said.

He added that the rumble strips should be replaced with normal speed breakers. “It is a failure. It is not only a source of inconvenience for commuters,but also causes damage to vehicles. This certainly should not be replicated anywhere in the city,” he added.

Most cyclists are of a similar opinion. Som Nath,a Panchkula resident who works in Sector 19,Chandigarh,said that the entire system should be removed,and instead traffic light signals should be installed.

“I feel safer to cross the road from a roundabout with traffic signals rather than this setup. It has happened several times that while crossing the road,speeding vehicles have almost hit me. There is no point in such a path,when ultimately we have to stop to give way to motor vehicles,” Som Nath added.

While talking to Chandigarh Newsline,a police official,who assists traffic at the roundabout,said that the experiment was a hindrance to the cyclists and traffic constables. “These rumble strips and median are often used by scooterists to avoid a U-turn,” he added.

The official also said that despite sign boards being put up,car drivers have to be stopped manually to let the cyclists cross the stretch.

Many commuters are not aware of the reason of this arrangement. Sandeep Sharma,an IT professional working in Sector 34 said,“I never knew that the entire set up was for cyclists and rickshaw pullers to safely cross the road. One has to either slow down to zero speed or pass the strips at a high speed to avoid the jerks and damage that is likely to be caused to the vehicles”.

The police constable also added that though a month had passed since the experiment came into existence,police officials had to deal with two-wheeler drivers losing their balance on the rumble strip. “Almost everyday someone gets injured after losing balance while crossing the rumble strips”,the constable said.

Senior Superintendent of Police R S Ghumman,when contacted,said “I know nothing”.

Proposal

According to the proposal,every 100 m before the roundabout a gap should be created in the median. Roads should then be connected with the cycle tracks in a way that the non-motorised vehicles can cross through the median and reach the cycle track on the other side of the road. Rumble strips have been constructed so that the traffic on the road slows down and a safe passage is given to the non-motorised vehicles to pass.