LB Nagar junction continues to be a chaotic place where traffic slows down enormously every day despite the construction of several structures under the Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP).
Construction of two flyovers on either side of the Hyderabad Metro Rail, two more towards the Bairamalguda side, three underpasses -- two at the junction between Nagole and Bairamalguda, and one near Chintalkunta Y junction -- have only resulted in partial resolution of the traffic issues near the junction.
“The only positive development is removal of traffic signals here. Otherwise, it is more chaotic than when no structures were here. Then, we just had to wait for the signal to turn green. Now, we are forced to downshift the gear and wait for the traffic ahead to clear up,” complained M. Srinivasulu, a commuter.
Even while the flyovers have proven to be beneficial for vehicles crossing over the junction, their construction has had only limited use due to constricted road width on both sides. The traffic descending from the flyover towards Hayatnagar slows down every evening as half of the road ahead is occupied by outward bound private buses to places such as Khammam and Vijayawada. The flyover towards Kothapet is severely constrained due to the inability of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to widen the road enough to take the load of all the vehicles landing there. Even the flyover is half barricaded to reduce speeds, which goes against the very purpose of having the structure there.
The two streams of vehicles, one progressing from Nagole side towards Hayatnagar and the other coming from Hayatnagar towards Nagole have the toughest time. It is chaotic ahead of and near the junction for vehicles from Hayatnagar towards Nagole, as they need to negotiate way between the narrow stretches left between the Metro Rail pillars and the flyover piers, further divided by barricades set up by the traffic police.
TSRTC buses have a stop right in the middle of the road here, beside the flyover, which slow down the vehicles behind almost to zero kilometres per hour. From the junction, the motorists are rerouted on a heavily damaged road, towards the right side road, where they need to take a U turn around the pillars of the flyover to be on their way to Nagole. The commuters coming from Nagole side and headed for Kothapet, will have to take a left turn and then a roundabout to find their way, which is no less cumbersome.
“Most irksome is the absolute lack of any measure to prevent clash between the traffic heading for the flyover from Kothapet side, and the traffic crossing over from the main road to the service road towards Nagole. They can simply barricade the way between main road and the service road, which is not being done,” says N. Varaprasad, another commuter.
The intersection between the main road and the service road is almost always occupied by shuttle autorickshaws looking for passengers alighting from Metro Rail, which complicates the situation.
Officials from GHMC have proposed a traffic island at the junction to streamline traffic on all sides, but so far the work has not begun.
