E-Paper
Reconsider Kothrud flyover at Karve Statue chowk, residents tell PMC
According to activists, instead of concentrating on the flyover, the PMC should look at improving the traffic situation in the area
Residents and activists have requested the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) commissioner to reconsider a proposed flyover at Karve Statue chowk in Kothrud.
The proposal has been allotted Rs10 crore in this year’s draft budget.
Prashant Inamdar, convenor, Pedestrians First, has written a letter to the municipal commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad stating that there is no need for a flyover at the Karve Statue chowk as the traffic is presently manageable without excessive queue lengths. According to Inamdar, instead of concentrating on the flyover, the PMC should look at improving the traffic situation in the area.
“The need of the hour is upgrading the junction design for better traffic flow and quicker evacuation,” said Inamdar.
“It is important to remove roadside encroachments on the stretch from Kothrud bus stand to Karve Statue chowk which will add one additional vehicle lane and footpath which will help in streamlining the traffic flow at the junction from Warje/Karvenagar side,” said Inamdar.
There is also a need to widen the road from Karve Statue chowk to Shivaji statue chowk, which will help decongest the road stretch and facilitate smooth traffic flow, he added.
“The proposed flyover would not serve a large segment of traffic on Karve road for this chowk is a Y-junction with one arm going towards Karvenagar / Warje and another towards Shivaji statue. A unidirectional flyover towards Warje will not be of use for traffic from and towards Shivaji statue and beyond. Besides this road is extensively used by PMPML buses, who have intermittent stops along the length of the flyover,” said Inamdar.
“Another problem that the proposed flyover will pose is that it will bypass several roads/lanes meeting the Karve road. Vehicles proceeding via these roads and lanes would not be able to use the flyover, thus despite the flyover, a large portion of traffic would still remain at road level,” added Inamdar.
He pointed out that this proposed flyover will also pose a hindrance to the ongoing Metro work and adversely affect the feasibility of this future metro route.
Harshad Abhyankar, a member of Save Pune Traffic Movement and resident of Kothrud, said, “Comprehensive mobility plan, approved by general body states that flyovers encourage more personal vehicle use and we want to promote non-motorised transport, then why are we building this flyover?”
Murlidhar Mohol, city mayor, said, “I had suggested this flyover in the last budget to the estimate committee, but as the estimate fell short hence this time I have again made suggestions. A consultant has been appointed, design is also ready and we are open for suggestions from residents and other stake holders, but we cannot discard this project now.”
“This project has been planned keeping in mind future traffic needs of the Kothrud area. We have also considered the metro route while designing the layout of the project,” said Mohol.
