Pune civic body to remove bottlenecks on 32 city roads causing traffic chaos

The electrical department will have to identify electric poles, street lights, and feeder boxes hindering traffic flow. The building department will check whether any infrastructure – public or private – has become a bottleneck. The anti-encroachment department will identify encroachments on roads and footpaths causing problems for traffic, while the sky sign department will check for hoardings and flex boards contributing to traffic congestion.

The roads that would be studied include Solapur Road, Ganeshkhind Road, stretch of Mumbai-Bengaluru Bypass passing through the city, Nagar Road, Kondhwa Road, Karve Road, Old Mumbai-Pune Highway, Kharadi Bypass, Paud Road, Alandi Road, Baner Road, Jangli Maharaj Road, Old Airport Road, New VIP Road, Sinhagad Road, Senapati Bapat Road, Pune-Satara Road, North Main Road, Pune-Saswad Road, Nehru Road, Ambedkar Road, Dhanori Road, Lal Bahadur Shastri Road, Bibwewadi Road, Shivaji Road, Bajirao Road, Tilak Road, Nehru Chowk to Jahangir Chowk, Magarpatta Chowk to Kharadi Chowk, Pune University Circle to Aundh, Golbar Maidan to Ambedkar Statue and Pune University Circle to Pashan and Bavdhan. The total length of these roads is 208 km, and 60 km of stretches are experiencing traffic chaos due to bottlenecks.

Ram said there was no need for large expenses for removing bottlenecks. The work expected to be taken on an immediate basis is banning parking alongside these roads, removing electrical feeder pillars and streetlights that have become bottlenecks, changing traffic signal timings, refilling potholes, and making the entire stretch encroachment-free, among others.

The civic departments concerned have been directed to prepare a detailed report on their study and actions, he said, adding that if there is a need for intervention at a high level, it will be taken up by the civic administration with the respective government departments.

The municipal commissioner said the civic body’s plan to widen certain roads is likely to take more time due to land acquisition issues, so the focus is on immediate solutions for existing bottlenecks.