A zebra crossing with a traffic signal can also be a low-budget alternative to a bridge or tunnel
ISLAMABAD: I would like to highlight an important issue faced by the general public and especially by visitors to the Islamabad airport. It is a great cause of concern that there is no pedestrian crossing on the main road of the airport, opposite its main entrance, for passengers entering on foot. Visitors to the airport and workers approaching or leaving via public transport are provided pick and drop services on the other side of the airport, hence making them vulnerable to getting hit by oncoming traffic. They have to dodge traffic and either climb or jump across the concrete road divider. Their luggage adds to their misery, as it is tremendously difficult to cross a three-lane road on each side, with luggage on their heads or in their hands. This gives the impression that they are not visiting an international airport of the country’s fancy capital but a lorry adda. I am a daily observer of this hazardous situation as I use this road regularly to go to work. These pedestrians not only risk their own lives but passengers in vehicles are also vulnerable to dangers.
I demand of the higher authorities, particularly the Rawalpindi Development Authority, to devise a plan in order to cope with this dangerous situation. It is suggested that either an overhead bridge or an underground tunnel may be constructed connecting the main entrance of the airport to the other side of the main airport road. A zebra crossing with a traffic signal can also be a low-budget alternative to a bridge or tunnel.
Dawood Khalid
Published in The Express Tribune, September 12th, 2016.
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