Bhubaneswar, Feb. 26: The state government has planned to build an alternative road network on the Jayadev Vihar-Nandankanan Road here for better traffic flow and road safety.
Official sources said a road was likely to be laid from CRPF Square to Nandankanan through Ekamra Kanan and another from Acharya Vihar Square to Nandankanan via Sainik School. "Plans are in the preliminary stage. We will take other options into consideration as well and then come up with the final project report," said an official of the works department.
The move is aimed at reducing the density of traffic on the stretch, which is prone to frequent jams and accidents. One of the three "black spots" or accident-prone spots identified in the city is on this stretch. The stretch between Jayadev Vihar and Nandankanan has the "black spot" near the BPCL petrol pump at Chandrasekharpur. Between 2013 and 2015, this black spot had witnessed 12 fatal accidents in which four persons lost their lives, 11 others suffered serious injuries, while six escaped with minor injuries.
"The road between Jayadev Vihar and Nandankanan is one of the deadliest roads in the city due to rash driving, irregular parking, roadside vending and poor planning of median-cuts. Traffic management here is in a mess since commuters don't care about rules. There are no proper signage here either," said Sohail Palai, who takes the daily everyday.
Traffic problems on the stretch were discussed at a high-level meeting of top government officials earlier this month under the chairmanship of chief secretary A.P. Padhi. "We had a discussion on the problems of the stretch and were asked to come up with a separate project to construct alternative routes here," said works department chief engineer (roads) O.P. Patel.
Patia resident Priyanka Singh said that although the road was wide enough with good medians, it was badly managed with the unplanned cuts that often contributedto accidents and traffic congestions.
"The administration had closed down many such medians in the past few months. While it did not yield any result, it created a new problem -wrong side driving," said Singh, a private sector employee.
The public works department will take up the alternative road project in collaboration with the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, the Bhubaneswar Development Authority and the general administration department. The officials will conduct a survey on laying the road with the availability of land with the government.
The state government also plans to take steps to ensure road safety of commuters and pedestrians on this stretch and has taken up an eviction drive on the stretch between Governor House Square and Patia Square. It has formed a special joint eviction squad consisting of officials of various government agencies, which have taken up the job to remove the encroachments from footpaths and cycle tracks on this stretch.
"The eviction and demolition drive is continuing and would finish shortly. We are also conducting patrolling with the help of local residents to ensure that the evicted encroachers do not come back to re-encroach the road. We want to provide the space to the pedestrians and cyclist and ensure safety of commuters," said BDA liaison officer Subhransu Mohanty.
