Authorities inspect Anandapuram traffic bottleneck ahead of Bhogapuram airport opening

Visakhapatnam: As traffic bottlenecks are likely to further worsen at Anandapuram junction with the upcoming Bhogapuram airport, authorities of various departments will have to look for measures to decongest the junction and improve connectivity to the airport. The authorities will submit a detailed report after conducting a study.Anandapuram, around 20 kms from Vizag city, is popular for its busy wholesale flower market, and thousands of people visit the market daily, leading to utter traffic chaos at the junction. Anandapuram junction has been witnessing utter traffic chaos from 7 am to 10 am and again from 4 pm to 8 pm. Sometimes it takes nearly 15 minutes to cross the junction due to the heavy traffic.Vehicles heading towards Vizianagaram and Srikakulam direction from Vizag city needed to pass through NH-16, Anandapuram Junction, the service road, and then re-enter NH-16. Anandapuram Junction witnessed utter traffic chaos as vehicles moved from the junction to the service road and back onto NH-16. The congestion occurred at Anandapuram Junction, where narrow-way vendors and parked vehicles blocked half the road.Visakhapatnam district collector M Abhishikth Kishore, accompanied by officials from the NHAI, Police, VMRDA, GVMC and a few others, inspected the congested Anandapuram flower market junction to identify traffic bottlenecks and explore ways to improve connectivity to the upcoming Bhogapuram International Airport.Speaking to TOI, ADCP (traffic), Vizag, K Praveen Kumar said police, along with the officials from NHAI, GVMC and VMRDA, will identify the exact reasons for the traffic chaos at Anandapuram junction and will come up with short-term as well as long-term measures for streamlining traffic in the key junction, he added.The relocation of the busy Anandapuram flower market and construction of a flyover are some of the proposals to ease traffic at the junction. However, it is not so easy to implement the two proposals immediately, sources said. The officials will come up with some of the alignment plans for diversions of the traffic by widening the existing service roads to ease the traffic, they added.The Anandapuram junction was expected to witness a sharp rise in traffic movement from Vizag city after the airport became operational, residents said. Free flow of traffic was essential for airport passengers, and otherwise reaching the airport would become a daunting task, said K Srinivasa, a regular commuter. “The district administration must come up with a suitable solution to mitigate the traffic chaos at the junction,” he added.