Noida authority to modify over 20 U-Turns in city

Noida: The Noida authority has planned to modify over 20 U-turns on three roads in the city, said officials

Noida: The Noida authority has planned to modify over 20 U-turns on three roads in the city, said officials. The move comes after the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) conducted a study and found some technical faults in the U-turns, which have been leading to traffic jams and accidents.

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SC Mishra, senior project engineer, Noida authority said that the CRRI was assigned to conduct a study of MP – 1 road, which connects the Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) Flyway to Sector 61, a road from Sector 62 to Sector 71, and a road on the Noida Sector 37-Capt Shashikant Sharma marg. “The CRRI has found that most of the U-turns are very small and narrow, which creates problems for vehicles in navigating. We have planned to modify these U-turns,” he said.

Sometimes, vehicles taking the U-turn and those coming straight on to the road left of the U-turn navigate closely, which creates high risk for accidents. Mishra said that the Authority will issue tenders and hire contractors to make necessary changes. “The entire process will take about six months,” he said.

Experts believe that U-turns in the city are not scientifically planned. Anurag Kulshrestha, president of TRAX, an NGO working towards road safety, said: “Sometimes a pedestrian crossing is developed into a U-turn, and in absence of any other means pedestrians also end up using the U-turn, which leads to accidents. There should also be a proper signboard 20-30 metres before the U-turn to guide motorists. Sometimes, motorists wanting to go straight run into the U-turn only to realise that it’s not an additional lane, which leads to confusion,” he said.

Kulshreshta said that these U-turns should also be of good height, so that vehicles do not run over it. “The U-turns should be as per the guidelines of the Indian Roads Congress, the apex body of highway engineers of the country,” he said.

Meanwhile, Noida Traffic police and the authority have planned to install warning boards at 35 ‘black spots’ on roads that have witnessed frequent fatal accidents in Gautam Budh Nagar. Of the 35 black spots, 18 are identified on internal roads, 11 on Noida-Greater Noida Expressway and Yamuna Expressway, and six on National Highway 91 and 9.