Road safety issues should be included in the city transport master plan to reduce road traffic deaths in the Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) area. Moreover, CCC will form a designated cell to ensure road safety in the city following global best practices.
Sheikh Mohammed Tauhidul Islam, CEO, CCC made the remark at a workshop organized to improve the skills of engineers in designing safer roads, organized by the World Resources Institute (WRI). He inaugurated the day-long capacity-building workshop for the CCC engineers titled 'Safe Access to School’ on Monday at the conference room of CCC. Anisur Rahman, Chief Engineer, CCC, attended the event as a special guest.
WRI Consultant Architect Farzana Islam Toma, and Asst. Consultant Architect Arina Tahneem conducted the sessions. Since children are one of the most vulnerable road users, the workshop focuses on designing safer roads in school zones. The workshop introduced participants to the context, the importance of safe school zones, and the design process of safe school zones. The workshop included a site visit to Pahartali Girls School.
Farzana Islam Toma said that a minimum intervention towards school access can bring the maximum effect in saving the lives of children. She added that we often overlook the children safety issues through a child’s eye. When we design anything for children, it’s important that we include them in the design process.
The engineers visited the school area, talked to the children and drafted redesign plans in groups with children and the teachers for the zone. Then, an engaging discussion session was held, followed by each group’s design presentation. Executive engineers, assistant engineers, and sub-assistant engineers from the Civil Department of CCC participated in the workshop.
Earlier in 2023 and 2024, WRI delivered three successful workshops on 'Collaborative Design Learning’. This is their fourth workshop of the capacity-building series under the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS) to reduce road traffic deaths.
As a partner of the BIGRS program, WRI supports cities with technical expertise in developing safe streets and safe mobility across different geographies and contexts