2 weeks Ago
Pune: Kishor Raskar from Hadapsar travels daily on the Pune-Solapur Road from Hadapsar to work. He has seen the traffic grow chaotic by the day and of late the dust and pollution on a stretch near Race Course worsen because of road widening . Raskar said the portion was among the most congested sections of the city and the civic body should have planned better to cause minimal inconvenience.
His commute and for thousands of others is a nightmare. Pune Municipal Corporation 's (PMC) road widening on a 50m stretch of Pune-Solapur highway near Race Course is causing horrendous traffic congestion, other regular commuters said. The work will continue till Jan-end, PMC officials said.
Wanowrie traffic division inspector Sunil Pandharkar told TOI, "The road-widening work is necessary to facilitate smooth vehicular movement on this stretch. Once completed, we will have extra space that will help accommodate more vehicles and alleviate congestion, especially at Fatimanagar junction ." He said they do not report traffic congestion at this spot after 8pm.
"However, a sudden increase in visitors to the nearby churches for Christmas celebrations has contributed to more congestion in the last two days," he added. Apart from city traffic, heavy vehicles from Pune rural areas and other districts use the stretch to access highways skirting the city. PMC's superintending engineer Sahebrao Dandge told TOI, "We recently initiated the road work.
It could not be expedited earlier as water conduits must be aligned first to prevent future complications. Our team is working with the water supply department. Once that work is over, we will be able to complete the road work by the end of January.
" The widening has been pending for the past few years as the civic body could not get private land required for the work, PMC officials added. quotes Road users call for better planning We recently got about 1,000sqft of private land for road widening. We endeavour to complete the job within the deadline by Jan-end without hampering daily vehicular movement Sahebrao Dandge I Superintending Engineer, PMC Before initiating any new work, the civic body and the Pune police should conduct a fresh survey and frame a work schedule.
If they work at night, it will not create as many issues as now for regular city traffic A daily commuter Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss daily games like Crossword , Sudoku , Location Guesser and Mini Crossword . Spread love this holiday season with these Christmas wishes , messages , and quotes .
.
