Pune University junction a major traffic congestion point on Ganeshkhind Road

Pune University junction a major traffic congestion point on Ganeshkhind Road

PUNE: The bottleneck at Savitribai Phule Pune University junction remains as it is, despite an expenditure of Rs 30 crore on the construction of two flyovers over a decade ago. Now, Pune Mahanagar Regional Development Authority (PMRDA) has suggested a solution of constructing a three-tier flyover and a grade separator to solve traffic problems. The university junction is a major chowk, its ending point is at Ganeshkhind Road and starting points are Baner-Balewadi and Aundh Pashan roads.  

Ganeshkhind Road starts from Sancheti Chowk to Pune University Chowk. It is 3 km in length and around 36 metres in width. It has two flyovers at Pune University Chowk. The Sancheti Chowk flyover has failed to solve traffic problems and traffic jam on flyovers during peak hours is common. 

Shimala Office Chowk too is crowded with people and vehicles. Around a decade ago, the PMC had floated the idea of constructing a skywalk from Shivajinagar ST depot to Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) head office which would have helped ST and railway station commuters to commute to PMC office. However, the plan did not work out. 

Due to landing and starting point of Pune University Chowk flyovers near E-square road has become narrow. The service road on both sides of Ganeshkhind Road faces traffic congestion. 

More than a decade ago, the PMC had given the contract to Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to construct flyovers to solve traffic problems on Ganeshkhind Road. The civic body had spent around Rs 24 crore on constructing the flyovers. Then guardian minister Ajit Pawar had even criticised MSRDC for the faulty design of the flyovers.

Due to Hinjawadi to Shivajinagar Metro rail and High Capacity Mass Transit Route  (HCMTR), Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis took a decision to demolish the existing flyovers and allow the construction of a three-tier flyover which will carry Metro, HCMRT and city traffic along with a grade separator. The PMRDA is working on the project.  

Vivek Kharwadkar, City Engineer of PMRDA, said, “Now, Hinjawadi-Shivajinagar Metro work has been awarded to Tata-Siemens consortium. The company will implement the three-tier flyover work. It will work on flyover design in detail and after that, we will share details with the civic body.” 

While speaking to Sakal Times, Dinkar Gojare, Executive Engineer of Road Department of PMC, said, “CoEP hostel near Sancheti Chowk, Shimla Office Chowk, E-square and Pune University Chowk are major traffic congestion points on Ganeshkhind Road. We are working to clear the bottleneck near CoEP hostel point and Shimla Office Chowk with the help of traffic police. The traffic police are regulating traffic to solve traffic congestion. The University Chowk is the major traffic congestion point at present. We are hoping that traffic problems will be solved after the construction of a three-tier flyover and grade separator.” 

No major issues on Pashan, Aundh, Baner-Balewadi roads
“Pashan, Aundh, Baner and Balewadi roads all start from Pune University Chowk. All these roads have a problem at the starting point. There is traffic congestion at Aundh Gaothan on Aundh Road. Pashan and Baner-Balewadi roads are wide enough and there are minor traffic congestion spots which are being cleared,” said Gojare. 

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