Pimpri Chinchwad: The civic body, which has implemented the suggestions made by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, will also put in place some minor safety measures on Pune-Mumbai highway before launching the Bus Rapid Transit System, joint city engineer Rajan Patil said.
The civic body widened the Pune-Mumbai highway to 61 meters around five years ago but has been unable to start the
BRTS bus service till now.
There is a four-lane concrete portion known as an express lane in the middle of the highway. A BRTS bus lane lies on both sides. There is two-lane service road on both sides of the highway. There are a dozen merge-ins and outs for vehicles to go to and from the service road to the express lanes.
A dozen subways below the express lanes enable vehicles from the service roads on one side to go to the service road on other side of the highway.
Social activists and organisations and political parties have said accidents may occur at merge-ins and outs and subways if preventive measures are not taken. An activist has filed a petition in the Bombay high court demanding that BRTS bus service should not be launched on the highway unless adequate safety measures are taken.
Patil said, "The civic body had appointed IIT Bombay to conduct a safety audit of the highway around three year ago. It had suggested installation of convex mirrors, traffic signals at the chowks for BRTS buses, rumbler strips before and after the merge-in and outs to slow down the speed of the vehicles. We have implemented all their suggestions. A team from IIT Bombay conducted separate inspection visits of the highway during the day and night. They have expressed satisfaction over these measures. They have suggested minor measures to be taken which we will implement in a few days."
Vijay Bhojane, spokesperson of the BRTS cell, said, "The IIT team has suggested repairing the damaged BRTS barricades, repainting the faded thermoplast paint on the markings and others. We will submit a compliance report to the high court next week. We are hopeful of obtaining its permission for starting the BRTS bus service on the highway."
