Pune Municipal Corporation to widen section of riverside road to curb perennial traffic jams

PUNE: Relief is in the offing for the users of the riverside road, with the civic authorities gearing up to widen a section of it near Rajput slums.
"The PMC (Pune Municipal Corporation) is expected to get around 15 metres of land from a private property owner, which will be used to widen the road. The works are expected to start in a month's time," said Abhijit Dombe, executive engineer of the road department of PMC.
People using the road said traffic jams were a daily feature at the junction during the peak morning and evening hours. If more space is made available for two-wheeler riders, it would ease out the traffic going towards Karve Road, Karvenagar and Sinhagad Road, they said.
Sanjay Sharma, a regular commuter, said urgent measures were needed to resolve the bottlenecks on the road. "A lot of two-wheeler riders use this patch every day. They have been left with no option but to wait at the spot for long as the road is very narrow."
Sourabh Bele, a regular user of the road, said, "The huge traffic jams are causing a lot of pollution," he said.
The riverside road at Rajput Vasahat near Erandwane was partly closed down a number of times by the local leaders and citizens due to traffic issues. The local leaders said acquisition of land in the area would ease congestion.
Civic officials said the road was important as it reduced traffic load on Karve Road, while providing connectivity to Sinhagad Road. When completed, the road would be a vital link between the Mumbai-Bangalore and Pune-Ahmednagar highways.
The riverside section is a vital part of Shivane to Kharadi Road. This 17-km road was to open in 2018. But it got delayed due to an incomplete riverside section. The land acquisition for it is not complete, so further delay cannot be ruled out.