God has blessed us people of Goa, with a beautiful land and peaceful life in these times. However, we have to strive to preserve this blessing with His Grace, and pass it on to future generations.
In the junction area near the Holy Family Church in Alto Porvorim, a pillar of the fly-over is comingup. The position of the pillar could have been much better. The pre-construction open crossing with clear view, will now be made into a junction with reduced length of line-of-sight. The near-blind-corner would cause problems for the people who use the road below the flyover. Buses too, turn here. Just because of money spent on construction, can people be allowed to potentially die at this junction and beyond, in days and years to come?
We know that parking on curves, or turns, or in junction areas, is to be avoided; as the line of sight of on-coming road-users gets reduced. This causes accidents and deaths– deaths which were definitely avoidable. Imagine permanently parking a pillar and causing deaths potentially. Infrastructure projects should be better designed, keeping to international codes of safety.
There are many examples in Goa, of artificial near-blind-turns, needing attention and remedy. Years earlier, the clear Merces to Santa Cruz junction had a clear line of sight for hundreds of metres on either side on the highway. However, the flyover built a couple of years ago at this junction, has many blind-spot corners under it. Similar blind-spots are a little further on the service road, from Cujira to Annexim in Santa Cruz, and still another going from Dental College area toward Goa Medical College. In-fact the underpass here often needs a police-man and now also has a signal installed! The infrastructure should also make things better for the people using the road below the flyovers. God forbid! if an ambulance carrying someone, gets stuck here years later, due to lack of vision, or our uncaring attitude, today. The GMC to GDC underpass for the pedestrians needs better designing too, making it safer for pedestrians and vehicle users too.
One of the most dangerous junctions I have come across, is the one near Greenpark Hotel in Guirim. Earlier, before the road-widening and flyovers, if one came from Paliem in Ucassaim, passed over the rivulet-bridge and wanted to take right towards Mapusa town, it was relatively much better. Today, the flyover underpass is built further to the right, not-aligned with the bridge. This causes the traffic going (from Paliem in Ucassaim) to Mapusa town to go against the direction of traffic flow on the service road, before reaching the opening under the fly-over. Accidents are waiting to happen, due to bad designing.
Road-designing needs to be for the weakest road users (an old blind wheel-chaired person or pedestrian), and not just car-users and trucks plying over the flyovers. There has to be a preferential option for the poor. There may be many more such examples the reader may know in Goa. Probably all these blind-turns need to be rectified, probably by lengthening the span of the flyovers at all such junctions, however without further land acquisitions.
Having a well-announced public-hearing, taking opinions of experts in diverse fields, and listening with humility to the people helps, and can give a holistic solution. Often, proposed claimed solutions lead to other unseen problems, when not seen holistically or in a trans-disciplinary way.
Often there are better, cheaper and more sustainable happier alternatives to fly-overs, like increasing and having 1000 buses in Goa to reduce traffic jams– just to name one. Impacts of flyovers, like increase in Urban Heat-Island Effect, destruction in earthquakes etc. can also be avoided, when it is listened to in public hearing of projects.
Through this letter, I hope rectifications are made and lives of all are potentially saved, and our roads are safer for us all. We have to use our knowledge and power to do good. Discussion, debate and making informed choices help us all. These thoughts and suggestions written can definitely be further improved. We are stewards of the Earth and not masters of it. Our lives are relatively short. I pray that God gives the grace to our representatives, bureaucrats and citizens, the humility, strength, courage and wisdom, to do what is morally right.