2 days Ago
1 2 Pune: The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has proposed to upgrade road infrastructure, build a four-lane flyover and complete the pending six-lane thoroughfare from Baner to Hinjewadi in its bid to alleviate traffic troubles in the Hinjewadi area. The move followed state cabinet minister for industries Uday Samant's meeting to assess traffic problems in the industrial and IT areas in and around the city on Dec 24 last year. "The proposed projects will cost around Rs 650 crore," MIDC chief engineer Nitin Wankhede told TOI on Thursday.
He said the road widening between Shivaji Chowk and Smashan Bhumi Chowk would cost Rs 25 crore, while a 5km stretch on state highway would be developed towards Maan village at Rs 584 crore. "Work on these two projects will, however, start after land is acquired by the public works department," Wankhede said. The proposed four-lane flyover of 720 metres in length would come up over Lakshmi Chowk to help commuters bypass the traffic at the critical junction.
"The tendering process for the flyover is close to completion and its work will start soon. The structure will come up on MIDC land," Wankhede said. Besides, MIDC is also looking to complete a pending six-lane road from Baner to Hinjewadi that will provide an alternative to the existing road used by commuters to travel from Shivaji Chowk to Phase 1 and 3 of the IT Park.
The total length of the road is 5.75km, of which 2.5km is already completed.
The land required for the remainder of the project will be carried out by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA). Wakad resident Tushar Dukare said: "Lakshmi and Shivaji junctions are two major pain points in the Hinjewadi area. We are looking forward to a solution to this problem.
I have been stuck at Lakshmi Chowk for more than one hour during peak traffic." It professional Poonam Korde said, "The intersections are flooded with vehicles during the peak morning and evening hours. Besides, the ongoing Metro work has increased the traffic load on the roads in Hinjewadi.
People will start taking Metro after the service starts till Hinjewadi." GRAPHIC THE PROPOSAL Construction of a 5km road on state highway towards Maan village Widening of the stretch between Shivaji Chowk and Smashan Bhumi Chowk A new four-lane flyover at Lakshmi Chowk Completion of the ongoing six-lane Baner-Hinjewadi road project CCTV BOOST MIDC is also in the process of installing 280 CCTV cameras to cover the entire IT Park area at Rs 7 crore MINISTER'S PROD On Dec 24 last year, state cabinet minister for industries Uday Samant had directed all govt entities related to Hinjewadi IT Park to fix problems like potholes, dividers and footpaths at the earliest.
