Better watch out if you are travelling on the old Mumbai-Pune highway stretch from Dapodi to Nigdi Phata. The entry and exit points along the four-lane corridor of the 11 km-long stretch on the highway have exposed the commuters to severe risk.
Better watch out if you are travelling on the old Mumbai-Pune highway stretch from Dapodi to Nigdi Phata. The entry and exit points along the four-lane corridor of the 11 km-long stretch on the highway have exposed the commuters to severe risk of being hit by other vehicles or getting rammed into the road divider.
Deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Manoj Patil told DNA that the entry and exit points are not only confusing to motorists but also lack proper planning and designing.
“There is a serious alignment issue as a motorist closely following a heavy vehicle won’t be able to make out the entry and exit points and may suddenly find the road divider in front of his vehicle. These flaws should be immediately rectified to avoid a major mishap,” he said, explaining that the matter has been taken up with the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC).
Police inspector (traffic) Vijaykumar Palsule said several mishaps have already been reported on the highway, mainly because of the alignment problem. Sunny Shirke, a resident of Nigdi who drives down to Pune daily, said motorists are often caught unawares by the dividers, particularly near the entry and exit points. “If one is in high speed and following a heavy vehicle, the driver may just lose control and ram the divider,” he said.
Truck driver Dilip Pawar said that the dividers pose a major risk to motorists, particularly in the darkness. “It is extremely dangerous for those who drive for the first time on the road as the dividers are completely invisible,” he said, suggesting that besides correcting the alignment problem, fluorescent markers should be installed immediately.
Additional superintendent engineer of the civic body M Sawle said that the matter will be discussed with the concerned officials and engineers soon. Deputy engineer of PCMC Sanjay Bhosale, however, said that the design was as per the standard specifications proposed by the Indian Road Congress (IRC). “Once the dividers are painted with reflective paints, it will be easily identifiable by motorists,” he said.
The Rs300-crore project of widening the Pune-Mumbai highway under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) was undertaken in 2004 by former municipal commissioner Dilip Band.
Opened to traffic last year, the 11-km stretch in the jurisdiction of the PCMC has eight lanes, with four concrete lanes at the centre, which was designed to be traffic signal free. The civic body has also constructed three grade separators and a number of flyovers at the major crossroads on the highway stretch to provide an uninterrupted drive for the motorists. PCMC officials said the work, except on a two-km stretch at Dapodi, is almost over.
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