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Widened High Level Road- pedestrians at risk

The authorities must be commended for widening many parts of High Level Road, mainly betweenWijerama Junction and Homagama easing traffic congestion along High Level Road. If not, traffic congestion along High Level Road would have been unimaginably dreadful due to so the increased vehicle load.

Along with the benefits the motorists and commuters have derived through the widening, the risk pedestrians face has increased as one who needs to cross the road has to do it at the risk of one’s life due to unavailability of proper reservation in the centre of the road. Some central reservations were marked, but they are not protective enough to save pedestrians from reckless motorists, specially,from private bus drivers and three wheeler drivers.

The situation with many other widened motorways in our country may have been the same. To mitigate this risk, it is necessary to build concrete central reservations that are wide enough for a pedestrian to be on it after crossing one half of the road, to have a careful and vigilant pause for a moment and to cross the other half. Also, the distance between two pedestrian crossings marked along the widened High Level Road is too long. This puts the people who need to cross the road, specially the elderly, sick and children into difficulty.

Hope, the authorities will take note of this matter without delay.

N.A.A.P.K. Nedurana
Kahahena,
Waga