Panaji: The public works department (PWD) recently completed a road safety audit for Goa, covering all district stretches other than national highways. The exercise cost the department Rs 4.5 crore in consultancy. Now, the department has awarded the work of pedestrian movement audit to a Hyderabad-based firm at a cost of Rs 2.2 crore.The pedestrian movement audit is meant to measure safety, accessibility and walkability on footpaths all along the roads in Goa. Such audits evaluate aspects like width, continuity, surface condition and obstacles like utility poles and electricity transformers.The work was awarded to Aarvee Engineering Consultants last year.Poor lighting, dangerous conflict points between walkers and cars, signal timings and how the infrastructure meets the needs of those in wheelchairs and those with strollers will all come under review in the pedestrian movement audit.However, those in the know said that the recommendations of the road safety audit carried out by Gujarat-based company Concius Engineering Services are far from implemented.The audit was carried out in 2024, covering a length of around 1,134km of major district roads and approximately 4,430km of village roads across the state.“The road safety audit report has thrown up recommendations which are occupying two cupboards full of space. It is a very comprehensive report. To implement all the recommendations across Goa, we will require Rs 300 crore, so it is not possible to implement it all in one go. The major push is required from govt for its full implementation at once,” said an official.With funds not yet available to adopt all road safety audit suggestions, PWD has decided to put measures recommended by the report in place in bits and pieces.“A memorandum has been issued to all PWD engineers that whenever they take up resurfacing or other works on a particular stretch, they should refer to the audit report and implement the recommendations for that particular stretch. This way, we will be able to at least adopt some parts of the measures suggested wherever possible,” the official said.The road audit covered ground surveys to check for road geometrics, overtaking distance, stopping distance and curvature, among other things. Visibility of signage, distance of signage and speed breaker dimensions were also surveyed.The audit was taken up after chief minister Pramod Sawant, pointing to the rise in accidents, had spoken of the need for such a detailed review of safety of Goa’s roads in 2022.
