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Now, PMC to reduce Baner Road footpath width to ease traffic congestion
The move is being criticised considering that in 2008, the PMC had spent crores of rupees on widening and developing this very road as it happened to be the approach road to the Balewadi Stadium where the Commonwealth Games were held that year
With work on the Shivajinagar to Hinjewadi elevated metro line going on in the middle of Baner Road, commuters are facing acute traffic congestion due to which the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has now decided to reduce the width of the Baner Road footpath so as to ease the commuters’ traffic woes.
However, the move is being criticised considering that in 2008, the PMC had spent crores of rupees on widening and developing this very road as it happened to be the approach road to the Balewadi Stadium where the Commonwealth Games were held that year.
Officials of the PMC road department said that the corporation plans to reduce the width of the footpath on either side of the Balewadi Phata to Ganraj Chowk and Mauli Petrol Pump to Anna Idli stretches of Baner Road. They said that the PMC will construct ducts to shift the existing water- and other service lines while reducing the footpath width. The PMC will also remove encroachments on the Someshwar Wadi to Ganraj Chowk stretch of the footpath.
Vikas Dhakane, additional municipal commissioner of the PMC, said, “Baner Road is facing huge traffic jams as there is metro work going on in the middle of the road. Besides that, there are encroachments on the footpath and vehicles are parked at the roadside for purchasing vegetables and other items. Therefore, we have decided to remove the encroachments and reduce the width of the footpath to widen the carriageway and ease traffic.”
A senior official of the PMC road department said, “The width of Baner Road varies from 24 metres to 30 metres. In some places, the width of the footpath is four to five metres on either side of the road along with the cycle track. During inspection, we found that the cycle track is not in use. Further, the width of the footpath is more when compared to the standard footpath width of 2.5 metres to three metres on either side of the road. Hence, people are using footpaths for selling vegetables and other food items, and parking vehicles. We have decided to reduce the width of the footpath and widen the road.”
Back in 2008, Pune city had got ₹2,500 crores from the Centre under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Renewal Mission. Under this, the PMC had widened Baner Road from the earlier 18 metres to 30 metres, constructed footpaths and a dedicated cycle track and so on for the Commonwealth Games held at the Balewadi Stadium, Pune, that year.
Now that the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) is constructing the 23.2 kilometres’ long Shivajinagar to Hinjewadi elevated metro line for which, work is going on at Baner Road, Ganeshkhind Road and Balewadi, the PMRDA has taken measures to avoid traffic jams on this route. However, commuters are still facing acute traffic jams due to which the PMC has stepped in to widen the carriageway by reducing the width of the Baner Road footpath.
