HSR Layout plays host to the Bengaluru’s first Open Street Day

A cricket match played right on the middle of the road. People cycling and skateboarding without the fear of being cornered by other vehicles... This is how the residents of HSR Layout reclaimed the streets as they played hosts to the city’s first ever Open Streets initiative on Sunday.

Aiming at a maximum motor vehicle-free day and to promote walking, cycling and use of public transport in the neighbourhood, Open Streets are observed in bustling metropolises all over to the globe to recreate the serene streets of bygone times.

Kick-starting as early as 6 a.m., the wide roads of the vast layout were transformed into a cyclists’ citadel and a pedestrians’ paradise. Motor vehicles, mainly cars and motorcycles, were kept at bay right at the entry and exit points of the layout. Only Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses were allowed to ply.

Organisers had provided points to rent cycles to commute inside the layout, but the riders remained scarce.

Dentist Sunil Anto, a resident of 29th Main at HSR Layout since five years, couldn’t believe what he was experiencing right outside his home on a Sunday noon.

“It is so different to have a day without vehicles and the cacophony but only people walking and cycling with all smiles. This is a like a dream come true,” he said, as he cycled alongside his eight-year-old son Suhan on the 14th Main outside the BDA Complex. It was Anto junior’s maiden cycle ride on the main roads, thanks to the Open Streets.

The organisers and residents went a step ahead to make the day a little more interesting and informative with a street play. Themed ‘The Bus Ride’, the act showcased on the 15th Cross Road enthralled residents and even the police personnel on duty.

Where next?

Tagged ‘Raahgiri’, Whitefield Main Road, near Forum Value Mall, will host the next Open Streets in Bengaluru on October 4. Bengaluru traffic police is working with Tourism Vision Group to organise more Open Streets, mainly on Brigade Road, M.G. Road and Commercial Street by the end of 2015. Representatives from Koramangala and BTM Layout too have expressed interest to host the initiative following its success in HSR Layout on Sunday.

What is the Open Streets initiative?

Open Streets is a neighbourhood initiative to encourage cycling, walking and use of public transport in your area. All kinds of motor vehicles, expect ambulances, fire tenders, police vehicles and buses for public transport, are barred from the streets for a specific number of hours.

Essential supplies

Residents of HSR Layout who ordered food and other items and opted for a door delivery witnessed their orders reach home on bicycles. Delivery personnel representing various online platforms were seen cycling across the layout to reach their clients.

Shankar Gowda from an online food ordering service, who was seen cycling on 10th Main Road, jovially said he was made to get on a cycle for work after 12 years. Some delivery boys even choose to walk it to their destinations despite carrying their heavy work backpacks.

Not all were open to the idea

Not everyone was open to the initiative though. The entry and exit roads to HSR Layout witnessed commotion with motorists arguing with police personnel. People caught unawares by the concept argued with the police personnel.

“They shouldn’t be shutting down an entire layout which is so vast and put outsiders to hardship,” Gangadhar, a lawyer and a resident of 3rd Sector of the layout, complained.

A section of people attempting to enter the layout through the 10th Main Road confronted police personnel and a few even threatened to stage a ‘rasta roko’ if the roads weren’t immediately opened. But the police held fort and cleared the agitated ones from the scene and restored traffic that suffered a brief bottleneck.