Ahmedabad introduces yellow box junction at Panjrapole crossroads to decongest traffic

The square yellow grid, known as the ‘yellow box junction’ in common parlance, acts as the ‘do not stand’ zone where vehicles are supposed to stand outside the box if the exit they wish to take is not clear.

The box helps traffic from coming to a standstill in the centre of the crossroads and stopping a traffic jam. Rather than following the traffic signals, drivers should only go inside the square when they can leave it without waiting or stopping in the middle of the crossroad.

“This yellow box junction is already present in big metropolitan cities like Mumbai and Bengaluru, now this is the first time it has been introduced in Gujarat,” Vijay Mistry, Joint-Director (Traffic) at AMC, said.

In a bid to familiarise citizens with a novel concept, traffic police officials say the violation of yellow box junction rules shall not entail any penalty. “There are no fines yet for breaking the yellow box rules but if people don’t abide by these rules then we will consider having a fine system in place. Currently, approximately two traffic brigades and two constables are being allotted at the spot,” said Neetaben Hargovanbhai Desai, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of traffic in the West zone, under whose jurisdiction the area falls.

According to Mistry, the yellow box junction toes the latest guidelines issued by the Indian Road Congress (IRC). Mistry says during a survey professors of Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat, (SVNIT) who are members of the IRC identified a few issues based on factors such as peak and linear movement, left-turn issue and everything that could cause traffic hindrance. The survey revealed a few key junctions in Ahmedabad which could use yellow box junctions.

While there are existing white stop lines which can’t be crossed by the driver before a signal turns green, Mistry states that yellow box junctions takes that rule a notch higher and makes it even if the signal turns green, the driver shouldn’t enter the box if his exit isn’t clear which makes maintaining the traffic easier and avoids congestion at the cross roads.

“The reason for choosing Panjrapole as the first location for setting up the yellow box junction is that the place has witnessed three to four fatal accidents in the recent past with the addition of high traffic,” he explained.

Mistry says that the critical intersection areas are marked in yellow diagonal lines in the form of a box to indicate where a vehicle must not stand even for a short while. “This is to ensure that the junction is not choked in the event of heavy traffic,” he explained. These markings will be used “sparingly” and at places where high traffic is anticipated, and also in areas that have a previous record of heavy traffic.

“We have identified 25 zones where we want to use the junction development in different shapes and forms to ensure smooth traffic in Ahmedabad. For this, we’ve done surveys and produced designs too with SVNIT and we’ll implement it as per the requirement of the place,” said Mistry.

According to the list shared with The Indian Express, there are 25 such junctions selected for implementing yellow box junctions. A few such crossroads include RTO circle junction, Usmanpura Junction, Nehrunagar Junction, Paldi Crossroads,  Airport Circle Junction, Danilimda Junction, NFD Circle, Prahladnagar Crossroads, Viratnagar Junction and Anupam Circle.