Additional lane opened for traffic on road to IT Park

PUNE: The traffic police has allowed vehicular movement on three lanes of the 1.8km-long road joining Shivaji chowk with Hinjewadi Phata on Katraj-Dehu Road bypass to reduce the traffic congestion at Hinjewadi IT Park.

The three lanes are now open for vehicular traffic during the morning and evening peak hours.

As per the traffic, the move has reduced the travel time by about 20 minutes.

Earlier, the traffic police had allowed the motorists heading towards Hinjewadi IT Park to have an extra lane on the other side of the road before Diwali on experimental basis. Similarly, an extra lane was thrown open for the vehicles heading towards Hinjewadi Phata in the evening then.

As per senior officers of the traffic police, the plan on experimental basis yielded encouraging results. "The decision to allow vehicular movement on the three lanes was taken during the Diwali festival after receiving good response during its experimental phase. Since the Diwali holidays, the decision has been providing good results. The traffic snarls have reduced," deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Ashok Morale told TOI.

He said the three lanes towards Hinjewadi IT Park are open for traffic between 8.30am and 11am. Similarly, they are thrown open for vehicles in the evening peak hours between 5pm and 7.30pm.

This 1.8km stretch was a nightmare for IT professionals who were often stuck in traffic jams here for a long time during the peak hours. "Sometimes, the traffic jams here extended for as long as an hour or more," a traffic police officer said.

Morale said the road-widening project on this stretch has been under consideration. "However, till the stretch is widened, we decided to allow vehicles to move on the three lanes on the road during the peak hours," he added.

Morale said it was observed that about 45,000 to 50,000 vehicles, including cabs, private cars, buses, auto rickshaws and two-wheelers, pass through the stretch in an hour. "The existing road has four lanes, but the number of vehicles passing or using the stretch is too high. The stretch has only one alternative, from the Kala Khadak area, but only a few vehicles use it," he added.

Morale said considering the number of vehicles plying on the road and the space available for their movement, it was decided to allow vehicles to use an additional lane. "During the morning peak hours, very few vehicles head towards Hinjewadi Phata from Hinjewadi IT Park. It was easy to take out one lane for the vehicles heading towards Hinjewadi IT Park," he said.

Morale added that the plan has reduced the travel time to Hinjewadi by almost 20minutes during the morning peak hours.