The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is set to appoint a consultant for its proposed 75-km intermediate ring road that is expected to help in decongesting major radial junctions.
“Pune urgently needs a ring road which will connect all the radials, serve as an alternative route and help in decongesting major radials and junctions. A consultant is being appointed for feasibility and traffic study including land acquisition plan and detailed project report (DPR) for proposed intermediate ring road in the city,” said a senior PMC officer.
According to officials, the intermediate ring road will be constructed by connecting the existing roads with missing links from the development plan (DP). Roads having existing or proposed right of way above 24m and in the PMC limits are being considered. This ring is in between the proposed High Capacity Mass Transit Route (HCMTR) and Pune Metropolitan Region (PMR) ring road and hence it is called the intermediate ring road.
This proposal is already part of the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority’s (PMRDA) Comprehensive Mobility Plan, prepared in 2018.
“Connecting the missing links will create a ring which will connect all the radials and help in the effective scattering of traffic, proving to be an alternative to avoid major junctions. Connecting Nagar road with Solapur road, Solapur road with Satara road, Satara road with Sinhgad road, Sinhgad road with Karve road, Karve road with Pashan Baner road may help in reducing the load on major junctions like Pune University chowk, Chandani chowk, Nal Stop, Nawale Bridge chowk, Katraj chowk, Hadapsar chowk, Wagholi chowk etc,” said the PMC official.
“All the newly developed areas around the old city are to be connected and major connecting roads like Senapati Bapat road, law college road, Katraj Hinjewadi Bypass, Undri-Pisoli road, Magarpatta to Kharadi road, Holkar bridge road etc will have alternative roads,” added the official.
The 75-km intermediate ring road will be divided into 40 stretches, which include the railway overbridge at Keshavnagar Manjiri rail crossing, land for a dry irrigation canal, land for developing road from Serum Institute to Keshavnagar Manjari and Hadapsar Akashwani to Serum Institute, the tunnel at Taljai Pachgaon hill from Hingne to Chavan Nagar, said, officials.
The agency will have to do the work in phases; the first one of deciding feasibility, including traffic impact assessment and lane requirement analysis; the second of land acquisition plan and land acquisition up to the joint measurement stage of missing links as outlined in the DP and current road alignment and width of the intermediate ring road for approximately 25 km; and the last of the DPR.
The Pune administration has been under severe criticism for increasing traffic chaos in the city. According to the PMC, Pune is a radial city which is rapidly growing in all directions. The lack of strong rail-based Public Transport and ring roads are major causes of traffic issues in the city. Pune has four proposed ring roads namely the 110-m outer ring road being developed by Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), the 65-m inner ring road being developed by the PMRDA and the 24-m elevated HCMTR being developed by PMC and PCMC respectively.
“All of these ring roads are difficult to be implemented in a short period owing to their high cost, land acquisition and environmental constraints. All the radials are already saturated and severe traffic congestion and delays are recorded. The absence of ring roads increases the load on the rest of the road network causing severe congestion, pollution and delays. Pune urgently needs a ring which will connect all the radials and will serve as an alternative route for people and help in decongesting major radials and junctions,” said the PMC officer.
