Hyderabad: In addition to wide lanes for fast-moving automobiles, the Outer Ring Road (ORR) will soon get dedicated bike lanes. The State government is currently planning to develop a 21-kilometer cycling track with solar-covered roofing, inspired by comparable facilities in South Korea. Cycling lanes will be built between the service road and the main roadway.
This facility will shield bicycles from the sun, rain, and other weather conditions while also isolating them from main traffic, making their ride safer. These advantages are in addition to the clean energy that solar panels will generate.
The track would run for 8 kilometres between Nanakramguda and the Telangana State Police Academy (TSPA) and 13 kilometres between Narsingi and Kollur. When completed, the 4.5-meter cycle track, which will be built by Hyderabad Growth Corridor Limited (HGCL), a division of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), would include three cycle lanes and one metre of green space on either side.
Parking places, surveillance cameras, bicycle docking and rental stations, food courts, drinking water, restrooms, and basic bicycle repair shops will all be available to riders at the track.
In addition, infrastructure will be built to ensure that the track is well lit during the early hours of the day and at night. The project will be self-sustainable because the lighting will be powered by solar panels on the roof.
It will be built as a solar project using the Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) model, in which a RESCO operator will finance the entire original capital investment for solar panels, maintain them for 25 years, and sell power to the department at a reduced rate.
Around 9MW of power can be generated by the cycle track’s solar roofing, which could be used by HGCL for ORR lighting, drip irrigation, and other power needs.
The concept was inspired by a video of a cycling track in South Korea that was tweeted by Erik Solheim, a Norwegian environmentalist and president of the Green Belt and Road Institute. KT Rama Rao, the Minister of Municipal Administration and Urban Development, advised that the idea be reproduced on the ORR and asked Urban Development Special Chief Secretary Arvind Kumar to do so.
Around 9MW of power can be generated by the cycle track’s solar roofing, which could be used by HGCL for ORR lighting, drip irrigation, and other power needs.
The concept was inspired by a video of a cycling track in South Korea that was tweeted by Erik Solheim, a Norwegian environmentalist and president of the Green Belt and Road Institute. KT Rama Rao, the Minister of Municipal Administration and Urban Development, advised that the idea be reproduced on the ORR and asked Urban Development Special Chief Secretary Arvind Kumar to do so.
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