AP Cabinet approves integrated pedestrian safety, universal accessibility policy

The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet approved an integrated Pedestrian Safety and Universal Accessibility Policy, shifting road planning from vehicle-centric to people-centric infrastructure. The framework mandates safety audits, accessible footpaths, technology-based monitoring, citizen participation and recycled materials to improve pedestrian safety statewide

Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet has approved an integrated Pedestrian Safety & Universal Accessibility Policy, bringing together pedestrian safety, universal design, scientific road audits, technology-driven monitoring and circular-economy principles under a single statewide framework. The policy, along with detailed operational guidelines, has been designed to fundamentally change the way roads and streets are planned, built and monitored in the state, an official release said on Friday.

“The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet has approved an integrated Pedestrian Safety & Universal Accessibility Policy, bringing together pedestrian safety, universal design, scientific road audits, technology-driven monitoring and circular-economy principles under a single statewide framework,” it said.

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At the heart of the policy is a decisive shift from vehicle-centric road design to people-centric infrastructure, with the objective of ensuring that roads are safe and accessible for all citizens, including children, senior citizens and persons with disabilities.

The framework will apply across the state, including urban areas, rural and peri-urban stretches, urban fringes and satellite towns, and will cover both new projects and the retrofitting of existing infrastructure.

The policy comes against the backdrop of a serious national road-safety challenge with India recording over 1.72 lakh road accident fatalities in 2023, including 35,221 pedestrian deaths.

Pedestrians accounted for more than 20 per cent of all the road fatalities. The Supreme Court has also recognised safe and obstruction-free footpaths as a facet of the Right to Life under Article 21 and called for a shift towards people-centric road infrastructure, the release said.

A major feature of the policy is the institutionalisation of comprehensive road-safety audits. Roads, junctions, pedestrian crossings and high-footfall locations will be systematically assessed while accident blackspots and vulnerable stretches will receive priority attention.

Locations will be assigned a quantifiable safety score, incorporating pedestrian vulnerability and universal-accessibility parameters. The framework envisages prioritising 15-20 high-fatality blackspots using two to three years of accident data, with at least 20 per cent of roads to be surveyed within the first year.

Further, the policy lays down detailed standards for the design of pedestrian infrastructure. Continuous footpaths will provide a minimum two-metre clear walking zone, along with firm and slip-resistant surfaces, level continuity across entrances and side streets, including adequate headroom free from poles, signage and other obstructions.

Universal accessibility features will include tactile ground-surface indicators, wheelchair-friendly kerb ramps, protective bollards and braille and audible signals while grade pedestrian crossings will be preferred over inaccessible foot-over-bridges, with lifts to be provided where required.

The policy also adopts a zero-tolerance approach to pedestrian deaths and footpath encroachments with local bodies, police and revenue authorities expected to work together to keep walking spaces obstruction-free.

A distinctive element of the Andhra Pradesh framework is its integration of pedestrian infrastructure with the circular economy. The policy mandates the use of processed construction and demolition waste for non-structural pedestrian components, including pavement and paver blocks, street furniture and certain protective bollards. It also envisages incentives for manufacturers and contractors using certified recycled materials, with pilots intended to build local supply chains before wider rollout, the release said.

Further, the policy goes beyond engineering interventions and places significant emphasis on behavioural change and citizen participation. A district-level mobile application or portal is envisaged to allow citizens to report wrong-side driving and footpath encroachments.

Residents’ Welfare Associations will also be encouraged to participate in accessibility walks, social audits and community monitoring while NGOs, persons with disabilities and academic institutions will be brought into the consultation process.

Implementation will be backed by technology, providing for GIS mapping of footpaths, geo-tagged photographic documentation, drone-based surveys and digital inventories of pedestrian infrastructure. Physical and financial progress across Urban Local Bodies will be tracked through dashboards, while CCTV and drones may be integrated with command centres for real-time monitoring and enforcement.

The overall policy architecture follows three sequential mandates, which includes comprehensive safety audits, infrastructure, accessibility, circular-economy interventions and behavioural change through citizen participation and social policing. The framework seeks to diagnose unsafe streets, build safer infrastructure and sustain improvements through community participation.

With the new policy, Andhra Pradesh is seeking to establish a new benchmark for road planning in India – one in which pedestrian safety and accessibility are treated as core infrastructure priorities rather than secondary considerations, the release added.