With the parallel bridge at Lakdikapul almost nearing completion, motorists will be looking for a hassle-free drive on this most busy corridor of the State capital, but the traffic managers are still at a loss about the traffic flow here.
Streams of vehicles moving from three different directions converge at the beginning of the oldest bridge over the railway line here and the narrow stretch often forces vehicular movement to a crawl during most of the day.
Despite the new bridge coming up, the complexity of the traffic flow at this junction defies a solution now. Traffic moves in from three sides - Ravindra Bharathi, Telephone Bhavan and Ranga Reddy District Collectorate and again vehicles proceed in three directions - towards Masab Tank, Nirankari Bhavan and Ravindra Bharathi.
While the new bridge when thrown open for use could reduce the congestion, the continuation of three conflict points on the route is a worrisome problem, which has so far defied any solution.
“Ideally, motorists going towards Masab Tank and Mehdipatnam from Ravindra Bharathi side should exclusively use the new bridge. However, the traffic coming from Telephone Bhavan and RR Collectorate and going towards Masab Tank will have a problem to get onto the new bridge,” Additional CP (Traffic) C.V. Anand said.
Then there is also the problem of coordinating the traffic flow going towards Nirankari Bhavan from the Ravindra Bharathi side. “A majority of those coming from RR Collectorate and Telephone Bhavan side go towards Masab Tank. Because of this there will be more than three conflict points that needs to be taken care of,” he explained.
There is a need to conduct a study to assess the traffic situation after the new flyover is thrown open, he said. “We will conduct a study to finalise a traffic plan for the area soon and determine if we need to take up any further engineering modifications in the junction to smoothen the traffic,” Mr. Anand added.
