In developed countries in the 50-60s of the last century, the increase in the number of cars forced the cities to adapt to cars. At that time division of transport, flows were considered as the most logical idea. The construction of highways, freeway, motorway began firstly in the US and then in Europe. These roads do not pass through the city's residential areas or are completely separated from it. Usually, urban highways pass through industrial zones, tunnels and overpasses. There are no traffic lights, at-grade intersections, pedestrian sidewalks, public transport stops, bicycle lanes and speed in that roads is up to 90-120 km / h. In urban highways, rarely pedestrian crossings are needed because the probability of them to cross from residential areas in the ground level is very low. However, if it is needed, pedestrian crossings are underground or over the ground. Such roads are built to separate cars from the historical centre of the city.

The opposite of such engineering structures is ordinary urban roads. In the streets, there are pedestrians, public transport and street-level crossings besides cars. In these streets, there are residential or business related buildings. Thus, in the western world, roads and streets are functionally quite different concepts. 

And what about us?

The development of Baku as a big city was during the USSR. In the USSR, there were not enough funds for the construction of highways like in the west; therefore, when the traffic intensity of the cars increased, the streets were simply expanded, and such expanded streets were usually called "avenues". According to their functions, "avenue" is neither a street nor a highway, it is a mutant creature. There are same level intersections, traffic lights, public transport zones in the avenues, but there are also features like the number of lanes and width that are specific to the highways.

This is not a highway, it is a mutant street that is the mistake of Soviet urban planning.

Underground passages have just begun to appear in such kind of avenues showed in the picture. It is interesting that after the collapse of Soviet Union, as a result of the increased number of cars the expansion process was repeated, and the number of underground and overground passages and multilevel transport junctions increased. This approach to traffic planning dramatically decreases the quality of life in the city. The big width of the road makes avenue river-bed without bridge and construction of underground passages cannot solve the situation. In such kind of avenues, the number of pedestrians and business centres are decreased, in the one-word street cannot fulfil their public functions.

The damage of grade-separated crossings to the urban environment.

Recently, many underground and overground pedestrian crossings have been built in Baku, and it seems that the remains of urban planning of the Soviet government are still existing in Baku. Grade-separated pedestrian crossings should not be built in urban environments for two reasons:

1. About 20% of people cannot use these crossings.

Of course, it is not about highways. Here such kind of crossings is a necessity. Pedestrians' access to such roads must be physically restricted, for example, there has to be a fence in divining line of highways. It is all about urban streets. Urban streets are public area and pedestrian flow there has to be intense. Let’s think: why pedestrian has to go two floors up or down just to cross streets? In society there many people with different age and category (old, people with disability, women with strollers. Underground passages are not accessible for all of these people. In addition according to the law, the distance between underground or overground passages has to be 500 m and this is a long distance for vulnerable people.

2. Grade-separated crossings stimulate infractions.  

Human always looking for easy and short ways, it is related to their nature. Thus, the underground passage is more dangerous. As we noted, many people are unable to use an underground passage. Some do not want to use it intuitively. In every society, there are people who do not follow the rules. As a result, drivers do not wait for pedestrians and road traffic accidents occur.

They understand it in civilized states, but former Soviet area this mistake is still repeated. Road traffic statistics across the world indicate that the number of road traffic accidents with pedestrians in areas with underground or overground passages is increasing. The presence of underground and overground passages is an indicator of the problem in the city's transport and mobility policy.

3. Grade-separated crossings are actually built for cars, not for pedestrians.

In many cases, grade-separated crossings are presented as special care for pedestrians, but it is not like this. Grade-separated crossings are built only to increase the capacity of streets. In fact, it does not happen, and the density simply moves from one place to another.