With 70 per cent traffic on road leading to Lohegaon airport not pertaining to vehicles headed there, the Airport authorities have urged the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to construct new roads that would divert the traffic and widen the existing roads to the airport from Viman Nagar and Weikfield. In a communication to the PMC, Lohegaon airport director Ajay Kumar said, around 55 lakh citizens travelled by air from the Pune airport in 2015-16, which is a 30 per cent increase from the previous year. “It was realised that there is a need to undertake development of new roads in the area around the airport for the convenience of the passengers coming and going from the Lohegaon airport to other parts of the city,” he said. [related-post] A traffic survey was carried out through the Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit System Limited (DIMTS) of the vehicles on the road to Lohegaon airport, the PMC communique said, adding, “The vehicle survey at existing road from Vimannagar to Airport and Weikfield to Airport revealed that only 30 per cent of the road traffic headed to the airport while 70 per cent of vehicles headed elsewhere.” As per the survey, the vehicles not related to airport should be diverted through alternate roads to improve the traffic situation on the existing road. There was a finding that the road from junction 509 to airport should be widened and be made four-lane to meet the present needs of the traffic. Similarly, the road from Viman Nagar to airport and Weikfield to airport should be widened to six-lane . Further, the PMC has proposed three new roads in the area in the revised draft Development Plan of the city. The new roads would be developed by constructing 100 metre road from the west of the Symbiosis campus to 509 junction, one km stretch from Puru society to airport and 200 metre road from east of the Symbiosis campus to the airport road. “The civic body cannot take up the construction of new roads without the state government’s approval. However, the work would be taken on priority basis after the new Development Plan comes into existence,” said a civic officer. The PMC has already undertaken the process to widen the existing road leading to airport, he said, adding the land acquisition would be hastened so that the work is done as early as possible.
