Perception of the Impact of Heavy Vehicle Movement on Walkability in Krishnanagar Municipality, India

Abstract

Relatively narrow roads of small cities get adversely affected by heavy vehicular loads, reducing pedestrian movement. This study aims to use spatial analyses and statistical tools to provide an assessment of the impact of heavy vehicular movement on walkability in Krishnanagar municipality in India from the pedestrians’ perspectives. AHP-SWOT methods and walkability index were calculated over 10 road links. The results were verified using field observations and questionnaire surveys. It was observed that due to the absence of separate lanes and minimum scope for road expansion, walking on the roads is significantly impacted, reducing the walkability index on all the major road crossings to less than 0.3. The level of traffic and the externalities by the heavy vehicles’ operation has an effect on different population group of pedestrians. Pedestrians have highly rated the distress due to traffic congestion caused by heavy vehicle operation and reduction of walking space due to encroachment by vehicles as major demotivating factors for walking. The study proposes that, with an opportunity of sufficient road width to support medium/light vehicular flow, re-planning of traffic flow with the help of policy makers, planners and engineers will help towards developing a smart city with multiple sustainable benefits.