Pune Infra Watch: Sinhagad Road flyover work gains speed, to ease commute for over 5 lakh residents
Over five lakh citizens are going to gain from the ongoing work of the flyover on Sinhagad road which has gained momentum with more than half of its pillars erected and the construction of slabs being started.
It is among a chain of flyovers on the main Sinhagad Road from Rajaram Bridge to Funtime Cinema. The 1,890-metre-long flyover from the city area to Sinhagad Road locality would take off from Vithalwadi and land in front of Funtime Cinema theatre jumping six junctions in all. The 1,540-metre-long flyover from the Sinhagad Road locality to Pune City will take off from in front of Indian Hume Pipe Company in Manikbaug and land at Inamdar chowk near Ranka Jewellers store in Hingane jumping four junctions. There will be another flyover of 495 metre that will take off from Vithalwadi and land near Veer Baji Pasalkar Udyan while jumping the main junction of Rajaram bridge.
Sinhagad Road is the only connecting road for the residents of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) from Khadakwasla, Dhayari, Nanded, Vadgaon Budhruk, Hingne, Narhe, Ambegaon Budhruk, and Anandnagar to the central part of the city. This is also the road toward tourist destinations, including Panshet, Varasgaon, Khadakwasla dam, and Sinhagad Fort. The road is also the only connecting point to national institutes like Central Water Power Research Station (CWPRS), National Water Academy (NWA), Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT), and MILIT.
Moreover, Sinhagad Road provides access to the Bangalore-Mumbai bypass and is the preferred route for vehicles taking to the highway due to the new Katraj tunnel. Vehicles coming from Bengaluru to the city prefer to come via Sinhagad Road after exiting from the tunnel and vehicles heading towards Bengaluru from the city also take Sinhagad Road.
“The flyover work was started last year and has gained momentum. Once the flyover work is completed by 2024 then it would provide a big relief to citizens using the roads,” said Srinivas Bonala, Chief Engineer, PMC.
The flyover is being constructed at a cost of Rs 135 crore. The administration has also planned a metro route on the road from Khadakwasla to Swargate to further ease the traffic situation by providing a mass public transport system through metro rail.
Anandnagar resident Abhishek Bote said Sinhagad Road is the only connecting road to the city and the increased urbanisation in the area has made it difficult to travel on the existing road. “There is a lot of traffic chaos due to a large number of vehicles on the road. The flyover work is further causing inconvenience to us and hopefully, it will ease the traffic situation when the flyover is open for the public,” both added.
