Bhubaneswar, May 6: Faulty road engineering has caused mishaps on the 45km stretch of National Highway-16 connecting Pitapalli in the city and OMP Square in Cuttack, revealed a study carried out by the Institute of Road Traffic Education.

The study by the Delhi-based organisation revealed that design of intersections on the stretch had not been done following the standard norms. 

“There is not adequate signage on the stretch, while most of them lack refection causing problem for motorists during night hours. Besides, the road line markings are also faulty. Zebra crossings to be used by pedestrians are missing at most of the intersections on the stretch. The construction of service roads on the highway has also not been done correctly,” said a transport official after going through the study report.

The road planners have also found out inadequate signage instructing the drivers to reduce their speed limits. 

“There are certain stretches on which dividers has not been constructed properly. The report also said pedestrians were most vulnerable to road mishaps,” said the official.

The organisation has also given several corrective measures to reduce accidents on the stretch. 

“They have advised for redesign of traffic intersections and installation of electronic traffic signalling system on the intersections. Besides, they have also advised to put up adequate signage. The state government would take up the matter with the National Highways Authority of India,” said police commissioner Y.B. Khurania.

According to official statistics, 95 people died in 226 road accidents on the highway passing through Bhuba-neswar in 2015 as compared to 80 causalities in 200 road accidents in 2014. 

Similarly, 44 people died in 121 road mishaps on the highway passing through Cuttack in 2015 as compared to 59 causalities in 147 road mishaps in 2014.

Earlier, the transport department had decided to identify black spots (accident-prone zones) across the state. Khandagiri Square is one among such spots identified so far by the authorities. According to specification of the Union government specification, occurrence of 10 accidents at a spot in a year on the national highway is treated as a black spot. The police said that more than 30 persons had died at the square in the past three years.