Jana Urban Space published Tender S.U.R.E (Specification for Urban Roads Execution) in 2011. Tender S.U.R.E is the first set of guidelines in India for urban roads design, redevelopment, and procurement for execution.
Tender S.U.R.E is all about getting our urban roads right, about addressing the issues that have made Indian roads notorious for their chaotic traffic, potholes, broken footpaths, overflowing drainage, poorly placed power transformers and their hanging spaghetti tangle of electrical and telecom cables. It is about breaking out of the never ending cycle of temporary fixes that arise from inadequate design and poorly monitored construction efforts. It is about doing away with the ever growing budgetary expenditure on digging and repairing the same roads time and time again whilst never managing to enhance the quality of infrastructure itself not the experiences of those who use it. It’s about finally taking steps towards addressing the relationship between the quality condition of our streets and the quality of our lives.
Tender S.U.R.E provides detailed street design guidelines for redevelopment of existing brownfield roads in urban India*. It is an implementation tool providing a systematic and disciplined way to address the challenges of street design.
*However the guidelines can also be used to design new roads – i.e – greenfield projects
Tender SURE redefines road design to make the vibrant public spaces that invite all users. The right-of-way is designed for all, not just vehicle users; with designated footpaths, safe cycle tracks, well designed intersections and allocated areas for bus stops, parking, street furniture, and vending.
Tender S.U.R.E Guidelines
The book is written in 2 volumes:
Volume 1 outlines design principles for what is on, under, and above the right of way and detailed technical guidelines for each; The key design principles of a Tender S.U.R.E Road are;
- Travel lanes of uniform width – traffic movement at steady speeds
- Organised underground utilities – contained and accessible within the footpaths
- Promoting non-motorized transport and improving last mile connectivity
- Well designed, safe intersections
- Well lit safe streets
- Landscape inclusion
- Creating vibrant public spaces
Volume 2 provides a model framework tender contract agreement or the Typical Contract Agreement (TCA). This is aimed at eliminating ambiguity for contractors about the technical planning and design specifications. The TCA improves quality of delivery of the project by aiding material purchase from government accredited vendors, encouraging contractors that commit to quality execution, and empaneling contractors based on technical capability. It also looks at improving quality check guidelines, enhancing operation and maintenance requirements, ensuring integration of information between civic agencies by requesting project plan and sign-off on the same from all concerned departments before embarking on the project and defining a participative process from the local residents for monitoring execution.
The Tender S.U.R.E Journey in Bangalore
Tender SURE Guidelines – Published
The Tender S.U.R.E street design guidelines were authored and published by Jana Urban Space in 2011. For a copy of the guidelines click here.
Project Tender SURE – Phase 01
In 2012, the government of Karnataka allocated 200 Cr (INR) in its budget for the redevelopment of 50 roads in Bangalore as per Tender S.U.R.E guidelines. 7 of these (St. Marks Road, Residency Road, Richmond Road, Museum Road, Commissariat Road, Cunningham Road and Vittal Mallya Hospital Road) were designed and monitored by Jana Urban Space (Project Tender S.U.R.E- Phase 01) as a proof of concept for the Municipality. These roads have been constructed between March 2014 and December 2016.
Project Tender SURE – Phase 02
Based on the success of Tender S.U.R.E phase 01, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Pallike (BBMP) have executed several more Tender SURE roads in the city, such as KG Road, Nrupathanga Road, Modi Hospital Road, Jayanagar 11 Main Road, Sidha Puranik Road, Church Street, as well as roads in the Majestic area. Tender S.U.R.E standards have also become the defacto standards for footpaths across the city.
Bangalore Smart Cities – 30 KM of Tender SURE roads
Bangalore was awarded smart cities status in 2017. (The smart cities proposal was prepared by Jana Urban Space. To read more about it click here). One of the key projects in the proposal was to revitalize the historic heart of the city with 50 more tender S.U.R.E roads. Currently 36 roads are under construction. The remaining have been shifted to white topping roads by the municipality.
Tender S.U.R.E Going Places
Based on the success of Tender S.U.R.E phase 01, the twin cities of Hubli -Dharwad are executing 17 KM of Tender SURE roads. 2.1 KM of road (Shirur Park Road) in Hubli, designed and monitored by Jana Urban Space was completed in 2019. 12 KM of tender SURE roads as part of the Hubli-Dharwad smart cities is currently under construction in Hubli and 2.4 KM of a Tender SURE road is under construction in Dharwad. All of the above are designed by Jana Urban Space.
Apart from Hubli – Dharwad, many other cities such as Chennai, Davangere and Nagpur have Tender S.U.R.E road redevelopment as key projects in their smart city proposals.
Tender S.U.R.E Awards
Listed below are the awards won by the Tender S.U.R.E street design guidelines;
2012 – Volvo sustainability award
2017 – Tender SURE included in NACTO (National Association of city transportation officials, North America’s) global street design guidelines for best practices. St.Marks road selected as a case study.
2017 – Tender SURE selected as a best practice for walkability and bike-ability by C40 amongst 60 submissions. The Bengaluru city corporation was invited to present the project in Copenhagen
2018 – Tender S.U.R.E wins HUDCO’s best practices award
Tender S.U.R.E (specifications for urban roads execution) was conceived, authored and published by Jana Urban Space. Over 40 KM of roads in Bangalore and 17 KM of roads in Hubli – Dharwad have been designed by Jana Urban Space.
For more project details please click here
For any queries / information please write to info@janausp.org
