Tender S.U.R.E (specifications for urban roads execution) street design guidelines, published in 2011, are the first set of complete guidelines to fix urban roads in terms of underground utilities as well as at grade mobility for all modes of transport whilst promoting non-motorized transport (NMT), creating safe intersections, improving last mile connectivity to public transit and educational institutions.
Tender SURE initiated a whole new way of thinking about streets – it looked at both the surface, providing an equitable division of the right of way, and it looked at fixing the subterranean chaos, and putting an end to the vicious cycle of cut repair and cut again. Tender SURE moved design away from the IRC and NHAI guidelines for the first time by providing travel lanes of uniform width, an even experience for pedestrians, rather than an uneven obstacle course and improved the public realm with plazas, landscape, street furniture and signage.
10KM of Tender SURE roads were executed in the central business district of Bangalore (2014 – 2017) as a proof of concept. These roads were one of the first roads in the country with designated footpaths, safe cycle tracks, landscape strips, public plazas, organised parking, and vending and at the time of completion, they connected to around 30 educational institutions, several bus routes and couple of metro stations, and had 5 KM of designated cycle tracks.
The success of these roads has had a snowball effect with another 20KM of Tender SURE roads being executed in Bangalore in the following 3 years and 30KM under construction currently as part of the Bangalore Smart Cities initiative. Once complete the Tender SURE roads will result in one of the most walkable – bike-able city centres in India, connecting bus and metro to around a 100 institutions and landmarks.
Tender SURE roads have also spread to other cities and states, with 17 KM of roads under construction in Hubballi – Dharwad and around 50 KM of roads under construction in Nagpur as part of the Smart Cities Initiative.
Allocation of budget on Tender SURE redevelopment has so far been approximately 10 Billion INR (13,22,88,300 USD) across the country. The 50 km + 17 km of TENDER S.U.R.E roads currently under construction in Bangalore and Hubli-Dharwad has an allocation of approximately 4 billion INR (52,540,000 USD) and 1.5 billion INR (19,702,500 USD) respectively. The Smart Cities Mission has approved substantial allocation to roads redevelopment projects in accordance to Tender SURE principles
2012-Volvo Sustainability Award
2017-Certificate of Appreciation from Government of Karnataka for the 7 TENDER S.U.R.E roads designed and monitored as proof of concept by Jana Urban Space
2017-St Marks Road redesigned as per TENDER S.U.R.E guidelines included in NACTO global street design guide as a best practice
2017-Tender SURE roads in Bangalore selected by C40 as a best practice for walkability and bike -ability
2018-HUDCO award for best practices to improve the living environment in category of urban design & regional planning inner city revitalization & conservation
You can read more about the story of Tender SURE in the blog post below.
