Improving walkability index

For all of Kerala, footpaths usually mean a set of slabs laid over drains on both sides of a road. The newly renovated roads, in the last five years, under the City Road Improvement Project have paved footpaths with hand rails, which ensure pedestrian safety to a great extent. “There is a severe lack of traffic discipline in Kozhikode and motorists rarely pay attention to a walker,” says Regional Town Planner Isha P.A. “Several external factors are influencing a person’s decision to walk on these bylanes, such as safety and security, and addressing these concerns is essential to improve the walkability index of these lanes,” says Rajina Rahiman V., an architect and urban designer whose research at the National Institute of Technology, Calicut, focusses on walkability in Kozhikode city. The foot overbridge on Rajaji Road that connects the Mofussil bus stand and the Krishna Menon Indoor Stadium has been replaced with a skywalk with escalators on either side.