Puducherry plans a pedestrian first rebuild of Mahatma Gandhi Road and Mission Street

5 November 2026

Under a funding programme of the Asian Development Bank, the Public Works Department of Puducherry has drawn up a plan to improve pedestrian infrastructure and create public spaces on the two main arterial roads of the town, the Mahatma Gandhi Road and Mission Street, while keeping their commercial and cultural character. A detailed project report prepared by the department is under review by an ADB consultant before the tender is floated. A team of senior officials led by Secretary A. Muthamma inspected the roads. The work is estimated to cost around 100 crore, of which seventy percentage would come from the ADB and the rest from the territorial administration. Officials said pedestrian movement on these stretches is now hurt by narrow and broken footpaths, parking on walkways and encroachment by shops and vendors, and that the absence of crossings pushes people onto the carriageway. For Mission Street, which is heritage sensitive, the focus will be on public spaces around important locations such as the Vedapuriswarar Temple, standard shop signages and cobblestone treatments at selected crossings to calm traffic.