Pune traffic police to tackle congestion on 32 major roads with PMC, Google
The project will focus on main roads with heavy traffic. Enhancements such as improved intersections, updated signals, parking management, speed breakers, road surfacing, removal of road encroachments, and installation of traffic control devices will be implemented
To help ease traffic in the city, the Pune traffic police on Thursday identified 32 most congested roads where, with the help of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Google, it will improve intersections, implement parking management, and use traffic control devices and separation techniques to relieve congestion and decrease travel time.
Additional police commissioner Manoj Patil said, “Pune traffic police and the PMC will jointly develop applications to reduce real time and increase road capacity. This app will also be available to citizens for reporting issues and viewing solutions. It will include information on traffic plans and allow suggestions for improvement.”
“Besides that, the traffic department has a special agreement with Google for real-time data on parking, traffic congestion, and notifications about changes in traffic, bus stops, auto stands, and the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) stops. Accident causes are being classified into human and engineering errors. Additionally, coordination with the ‘Save Life Foundation’ is underway to analyse the response time for treating the injured. The aim is to reduce the number of accidents through these efforts,” Patil said.
Nikhil Mijar, traffic planner, PMC, said, “As per the discussion in the Tuesday meeting of PMC officials and Pune traffic department officials, PMC road and traffic department officials will jointly visit 32 roads and identify the problems. Thereafter, the PMC’s various departments will resolve issues on priority such as widening roads; removing obstacles like billboards, electrical poles and drainage-related problems; repairing potholes; maintaining traffic signals etc. The traffic police will decide the date of the visit and convey it to the PMC road department.”
Under the guidance of the Pune city police commissioner and additional police commissioner of the east regional division, the project will classify roads based on their usage, with special measures taken in coordination with other local authorities. The project will focus on main roads with heavy traffic. Enhancements such as improved intersections, updated signals, parking management, speed breakers, road surfacing, removal of road encroachments, and installation of traffic control devices will be implemented. Additionally, the measures will address waterlogging points, hawker zoning enforcement, tree obstructions, and traffic segregation techniques. Prioritising these main roads will increase their capacity and reduce pressure on internal residential roads.
Thirty-two major roads identified
Solapur Road, Kharadi Bypass to Magarpatta Road, North Main Road to Solapur Road, Pune Saswad Road, Katraj Mantarwadi Bypass, Pune Ahmednagar Road, New Airport Road, Old Airport Road, Alandi Road, Old Pune-Mumbai Highway, Satara Road, Sinhagad Road, Lal Bahadur Shastri Road, Pandit Nehru Road, Bajirao Road, Chhatrapati Shivaji Road, Santaji Ghorpade Road, North Main Road, Sadhu Vaswani Road, Bund Garden Road, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road, Mahatma Gandhi (M G) Road, Prince of Wales Road, Kondhwa Main Road, Jangali Maharaj (J M) Road, Fergusson College (F C ) Road, Ganeshkhind Road, Senapati Bapat Road, Baner Road, Paud Road, Karve Road and Kanhere Road.
