The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Punjagutta flyover to open for commuters shortly

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Wednesday, Jul 09, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Punjagutta flyover to open for commuters shortly

Marri Ramu

Facility comes with restrictions on traffic movement

HYDERABAD: Commuters can hope for respite from traffic chaos as the new Punjagutta ‘Y’ flyover is all set to be inaugurated in three days. But the relief is coming with some unexpected changes in road design and restrictions on the traffic movement.

Railing

The first major change in road design is connecting the railing of Greenlands flyover on ITC Kakatiya and Towers Hotel side with that of the new flyover on Chief Minister’s camp-office-cum-residence side by cement blocks. With this, vehicles coming from Begumpet flyover and landing near LifeStyle building, go up the new ‘Y’ flyover to reach Jalagam Vengal Rao Park or Banjara Hills.

Those heading for Raj Bhavan road turn left near the Rajiv Gandhi statue. Traffic coming over the Punjagutta flyover from Jubilee Hills side would land near Topaz building, go up the Greenlands flyover after the Chief Minister’s residence and lands at the Hyderabad Public School side.

Obstruction-free

“By connecting the two flyovers with cement blocks, criss-crossing is being averted making the journey on the stretch obstruction free,” traffic police said.

The present divider on the road before Chief Minister’s residence would be removed creating huge space for vehicles going from Rajiv Gandhi statue towards Greenlands.

For a continuous flow of traffic from LifeStyle building side towards the Punjagutta flyover, the traffic police are mulling to ban right turn towards Ameerpet near Greenlands junction.

Thus, all vehicles coming from Begumpet flyover would have to go further, take a ‘U’ turn at Rajiv Gandhi statue to reach Ameerpet.

Allaying fears of traffic getting choked at Rajiv Gandhi statue as it clashes with vehicles coming from Raj Bhavan, officials said enough policemen would be posted to regulate vehicular movement. As the road near Punjagutta graveyard is being widened, congestion of vehicles coming by the Punjagutta ‘Y’ flyover would be minimised, it is pointed out.

Discussion

The traffic police have not yet decided whether to allow vehicles coming from Hotel Green Park to go up the Begumpet flyover as permitted presently. Assessing the situation after the new flyover’s inauguration, the police are planning to discontinue this and divert the vehicles coming from Green Park hotel via Country Club and LifeStyle building and take a ‘U’ turn near Rajiv Gandhi statue. However, this idea is still at discussion stage.

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