The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Travel time to new airport: doubts persist

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 22, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Travel time to new airport: doubts persist

M.L.Melly Maitreyi

HYDERABAD: The die has been cast. The international Airport is to be inaugurated on March 16 and Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy has already requested the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to inaugurate the prestigious airport. But doubts continue to linger on how much time it would take for the air traveller to reach the airport given the slow pace of work on the connecting roads.

Though the pace of work on the Outer Ring Road, PVNR Express Elevated Highway is stated to be progressing satisfactorily, doubts continue over the road network that connects these projects. These two mega projects are being executed on a tight rope schedule with the objective of providing connectivity to the International Airport to be commissioned in March, 2008.

Three corridors

If the 24-km ORR Phase I from Gachibowli to Shamshabad, once ready, will provide access controlled speedway to reach the Shamshabad airport within 20 minutes from Gachibowli, the Elevated Expressway from Mehdipatnam to Aramgarh junction on NH-7 and with clover leaf flyovers and trumpet interchange near Shamshabad to prevent conflicting traffic movements and ensure smooth flow, is expected to enable the travellers reach the airport in about about 30 minutes.

There are three connecting corridors: one road that connects to the Airport is that of the Srisailam road via Charminar, Chandrayangutta and Tukkuguda. But only about five per cent of airport-bound traffic is expected to use it.

Invariably, the most sought after route will be Elevated Expressway. However, even if the express way is completed according to schedule, questions remain about the four-laning of the NH7 between between Aramghar junction and Shamshabad. Moreover, work on the road connecting Shamshabad and the new airport has not yet begun. Again, another rotary has to be constructed at Shamshabad on NH7 to ensure an orderly flow of traffic. Work has not yet commenced on this count.

Next comes the question of the ORR. Again even if the ORR works are completed as per schedule, the problem of connecting roads to the ORR crops up from any direction, be it from Jubilee Hills or any ther side.

Given the major traffic bottlenecks for reaching either Gachibowli or Mehdipatnam, how would people from different parts of the city get onto these speedways even if they are ready by the time Shamshabad Airport is commissioned in March 2008?

Those air passengers coming from Secunderabad towards Shamshabad have to travel via Begumpet, Nagarjuna Circle, Banjara Hills Rd.No.1, Masab Tank, NMDC, before getting onto the elevated Expressway at SD Eye Hospital. The whole stretch is extremely congested with the existing GHMC flyovers at Greenlands and Punjagutta lagging behind the schedule. Though the Road No.1 is being widened to 100 ft, the number of malls and commercial complexes will certainly add to the congestion. The next major traffic congestion is at NMDC again.

Similar plight

Same will be the plight of people coming from Barkatpura, Narayanaguda, Basheerbagh, Himayatnagar taking Lakdikapul, Masabtank routes to reach Elevated Expressway and also those coming from Khairatabad, SR Nagar, Ameerpet would have to travel via Punjagutta, Banjara Hills Rd.No.1, Masab Tank to get onto the Expressway. Added to the growing and alarming traffic congestion, airport traffic on these routes would increase by about 30 to 35 per cent further accentuating the congestion in spite of widening of Banjara Hills Rd.No.1 and inner ring from SD Eye Hospital, say some experts. The only solution to tackle these problems is to continue operation of domestic air traffic from Begumpet Airport for some more time, limiting only international air traffic to the new airport, exerts say argue. Once the flyovers at Punjagutta, Greenlands are ready, connectivity to Begumpet airport from Gachibowli, Jubilee Hills, Banjara Hills would improve and travel time would be faster for domestic air travellers, they point out. Complete air traffic operations can be shifted to the Shamshabad airport only after feeder roads to the speedways are completed.

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