Work on the Benz Circle flyover will commence very soon with the city police preparing alternative routes to divert the highway traffic.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has already completed soil testing on the highway from Benz Circle to the Ramesh Hospitals junction. It has informed the State government that it is ready to launch “the works at any moment” the highway traffic was diverted.
The police have prepared alternative routes and also made some suggestions to the NHAI and Roads and Buildings (R&B) department. To divert the traffic, the NHAI was asked to complete the Kankipadu bypass on NH-65 on a priority basis.
Widening and strengthening of NH-216 from Ongole to Kakinada via Mopidevi and Yanam would be an alternative to NH-16. Inter-connecting of NH-6 and NH-65 was possible if the stretch between China Autupalli and Gollapudi was completed. Takellapadu (Guntur district)-Tenali-Vellatur-Bhattiprolu road would be another alternative route.
In one year
Bellamvari veedhi to Auto Nagar (in the city), Nuzvid-Gannavaram, Vijayawda-Visannapet, Nidamanuru-Poranki, Hanuman junction-Gudivada-Pamarru-Challapalli up to NH 216 road, Hanuman Junction to Nuzvid-Mylavaram are some other alternative routes.
The police want the officials to widen these roads. Kesarapalle-Mustabada and Shabad-Jakkampudi roads were another two routes. The NHAI and the R&B are working on these suggestions, sources say.
The government has plans to complete the flyover work on time and to inaugurate it in August 2018 at any cost. The designs for the flyover have been prepared.
The 1.6 km-flyover starts at Ramesh Hospitals/Gurunanak Colony junction and ends near the Skew Bridge. The designs specify that two separate bridges comprising four lanes will be constructed, in addition to the existing four-lane national highway. Regular city traffic will use the existing road and heavy vehicles will be diverted through the flyover, which will join the NH at the Skew Bridge junction.
The Benz Circle links the highways connecting Visakhapatnam, Machilipatnam, Chennai and Hyderabad. Traffic had increased manifold over the past couple of years as commercial establishments had sprung up near the junction.
A 2009 report of the Passenger Car Unit (PCU) study taken up at the junction indicated that the vehicular flow at the Benz Circle during peak hours was 15,000 cars per hour.
The city police in 2012 observed that nearly 57,000 vehicles, including two-wheelers, autos, goods and public transport vehicles cross the Benz Circle every 24 hours in Vijayawada.
In 2015, it was estimated that around 60,000 vehicles pass through the city every day at the Benz Circle where the NH 16 and NH 65 (erstwhile NH-5 and NH-9) intersect.
