Two lanes each way inside a 25-metre right-of-way: a general lane, and a wide red lane that buses, bicycles and rickshaws share as they do today. A raised median carries the street lights and gives people a safe place to pause when crossing. Shade trees line both sides. Drag to look around the 3D model, pick a view below, or turn on Today's shopfronts to see how much land each frontage gives up.
Design: Texas Engineering & Surveying, Inc. (TES), 2026 · prepared pro bono for the residents of Birgunj Main Road
Widths in metres. Kerb heights are drawn larger than true scale so they show; trees and light poles are drawn shorter, with their real heights marked. The orange dotted lines mark today's shopfronts. Below the surface: a storm drain under each shared lane, a continuous soil trench for tree roots that also stores storm water, a lighting duct under the median, and power and telecom ducts under the walkway.
The bus pulls up at a 200 mm raised boarding kerb inside the shared lane. Passengers step straight onto the sidewalk; riders pass on the inside of the stopped bus, in the 1.75 m left in the lane. A bus that is not stopping moves out over the dashed line to pass.
A 2.40 m clear walkway on both sides, kept free of poles, plus the 1.50 m setback in front of the shops: 3.90 m of walking space. Mid-block crossings are raised tables with the median as a refuge, so you cross 8.15 m of traffic at a time at footpath level. At the signalised junction a countdown shows how long you have to cross.
A yellow tactile guide line runs along each walkway, with dotted warning tiles at every crossing, at the median refuge, at side-street entries and along each bus boarding kerb.
Street trees every 8 m in 1.2 × 1.2 m metal grates beside the curb. The soil trench under them is fed by the drain inlets, so it waters the trees and holds back storm water in heavy rain.
Riders share the 4.65 m red lane with buses, as is familiar in Birgunj today. The lane is wide enough for a bus to pass an auto-tempo or a cycle rickshaw at 30 km/h; battery e-rickshaws ride here too. Cars may use it only in the last 30 m before a left turn.
Buses stop at the kerb beside a 200 mm raised boarding kerb, so you step on and off almost level, straight onto the sidewalk, with benches in the shade. There is no bike track to cross.
A 30 km/h zone with a 3.50 m general lane each way, where auto-tempos and cars run. Without a centre turn lane, right turns and U-turns are made at signalised main junctions where the median opens; other side streets are left-in, left-out. At bus stops the lane line is dashed so a bus can pull out to pass a stopped bus.
Today's shopfronts are about 17.0 m apart. The 25 m right-of-way takes 4.0 m (13 ft) from each frontage: about 8,000 m² per km, a quarter of the 33,000 m² the government's 50 m plan would take. Turn on Today's shopfronts to see the old building line and the strip that is taken, shaded orange.
Motorcycle parking is placed in side streets, so bikes stay off the walkway. Licensed vending spots sit in marked gaps between trees. Morning loading uses short kerb-side zones in the shared lane, away from bus stops.
Twin-arm poles on the median every 24 m, with one 9.5 m arm over each direction. Decorative 4 m post lamps light the walkway and shop fronts. Use Night view to see the effect.
The road is rebuilt half its width at a time, so one side stays open and every shop keeps its entrance throughout.