the goan I network
MARGAO
Congress MLA Reginaldo Lourenco on Monday dashed off a letter to the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and the PWD Minister Deepak Pauskar to make the NH66 at Bambolim pedestrian-friendly by putting in place either a foot overbridge or an underpass or a traffic signal for the benefit of the pedestrians.
In his letter, Reginaldo said the government should act before any pedestrian suffers a casuality by coming under the wheels of a speeding vehicle and has suggested deployment of traffic personnel during peak hours as a stop gap arrangement for the safety of pedestrians crossing the road.
“It is sad to bring to your kind notice that during my now and then travels from South Goa to North Goa and vice versa, I do get disturbed by the very sight of pedestrians finding it difficult to cross from one side of Bambolim road at Holy Cross Church to the opposite side of the road which houses important government offices and institutes like Nursing Education, Psychiatry and Human Behaviour (IPHB), Food & Drugs Administration (FDA) etc. It is an accident-prone zone, the pedestrians including staff and students of Nursing, IPHB, devotees visiting Holy Cross Church find it very difficult to cross this NH 66 road as the vehicles move at a tearing speed,” he said.
He drew attention of the Chief Minister and the PWD Minister that in the current development model on highways that has been unleashed in Goa, the safety concerns for pedestrians have been consigned to the back-burner.
“As NH 66 is being converted into a super expressway, the lack of concern for pedestrian safeguards is clearly visible on this stretch of the Bambolim road,” he added.
