The U-turns have become bottlenecks. And not just bottlenecks that cannibalise time, but raise tempers and leave dented fenders. In the three kilometre stretch between Kondapur and Gachibowli flyover, the two U-turns and two traffic signals have turned it into a chaotic mess. A similar situation exists on the parallel road that connects the Biodiversity Park to Raheja Junction where a single U-turn has become a bottleneck during peak hours. While a newly-opened furniture mall is being blamed, the U-turn remains the key point where traffic backs up right up to the Old Bombay Highway.
Vehicles that race down the Outer Ring Road hit the bottleneck after coming out the toll gate turnstiles. “It takes between 15 minutes to 25 minutes to take right turn towards Biodiversity Junction. But if we go straight towards Kondapur Junction, every U-Turn requires 10 minutes to navigate,” says Abdul Majeed, who drives a cab in the IT Corridor.
“When we moved in to this property in the early 2010s, the area did not have many buildings. The roads were not crowded. It has changed completely, and there are several bottlenecks in the two-kilometre radius. With the new mall near Kothaguda, it takes us much longer to reach HiTec City than earlier,” says Shyamal Bhavani, who lives in the area.
A few days ago, horror-struck bystanders watched as bus plying from Lingampally to Koti ploughed through passengers killing three of them waiting to catch it. The same situation continues even after the tragic incident near Gachibowli flyover, where commuters spill onto the road to catch RTC bus, which have to slow down due to traffic.
“We are waiting for the road work on either side to be completed. Once that’s done and we streamline the flow of auto-rickshaws, the traffic flow will be smooth,” said the lone traffic official regulating traffic at the Gachibowli Junction.
The changing demographics of the area too has an impact on the rise in the number of vehicles on the stretch. “People who want to go to Lingampally side use these roads, which has added to the traffic. Also, after one roadwork is completed like road widening or adding dual-carriageways, something else comes up. It’s a never-ending part of living here now,” says Ms. Bhavani.
The woes of commuters are unlikely to be addressed any time soon as the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is constructing a multi-level flyover at Botanical Garden, Kothaguda and Kondapur Junction under the Strategic Road Development Programme.
“A two-lane ramp is being built to connect Botanical Garden with Masjid Banda road leading to shrinking of the road width to half of about 400 metres. But the project will be completed quickly,” said the traffic official.
But for now, commuters will have to grin and bear the hassle of spending long hours on road.