Traffic congestion at Lakshmi Talkies Chhak in Sambalpur. Telegraph picture

Sambalpur, Feb. 24: The public works department has initiated the process to construct a flyover in the city.

“A tender has been floated to construct the flyover at an estimated cost of Rs 72 crore,” said assistant executive engineer of the department P.K. Nath. Nath said the flyover’s length would be 1,520 metres. “It will start from near Dhutrapara Chhak and end near the head post office on Kacheri-Ainthapali Chhak road,” Nath said.

The proposed flyover would solve the traffic problem at Lakshmi Talkies Chhak on the crossing of Kacheri-Ainthapali Chhak road and Jail Chhak-Modipara road of the city.

“Lakshmi Talkies Chhak is a busy traffic intersection of the city. Thousands of vehicles regularly pass through it. The proposed flyover will be a remedy to the traffic chaos there,” said local resident Newton Ray.

“At present, motorists have to negotiate with heavy traffic snarls at Lakshmi Talkies Chhak throughout the day. A flyover will definitely ease the pressure of vehicles,” said a commuter, Santosh Jha.

“I regularly go to office through Lakshmi Talkies Chhak. Everyday, I have to negotiate with heavy traffic chaos there. If the flyover is constructed, the traffic problem will be over. The concerned department should construct it as soon as possible,” said another commuter, Kuna Panda.

Sources said a Bhubaneswar-based private firm had been assigned with the job of conducting a vehicular traffic survey for the flyover. The survey revealed that Kacheri-Ainthapali Chhak road was busier than Jail Chhak-Modipara road. Vehicle movement on Kacheri-Ainthapali Chhak road was more than 1,000-passenger car unit.

Passenger car unit is a vehicle unit expressing highway capacity. One car is considered as a single unit; cycle and motorcycle are considered as half car unit. Since bus and truck are big in size, they are considered equivalent to three cars or 3-passenger car unit.