Bhubaneswar, Sept. 28: Travelling down National Highway No. 203 from Rasulgarh Square and Samantarapur should become relatively hassle-free once the Puja arrives.

Sources said the national highways authorities would close unnecessary divider cuts between Rasulgarh and Samantarapur and build a median on this road between Kalpana Square and Bhanja Kalamandap to minimise accidents on this stretch.

National Highway No. 203 connects Cuttack with Puri.

The decision was taken following a joint inspection carried out by officials of the Bhubaneswar traffic wing of the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar police and the NH division of the state government recently.

A senior police officer of the traffic wing said there were 27 points where the divider had been cut along this NH to make way for vehicles to cross from one side of the road to other between Rasulgarh and Samantarapur. “Most of these cuts are unnecessary and have no role in easing traffic chaos. Rather, they add to the traffic mess on this road,” said the officer.

Narrow road on either side of the median and illegal encroachment along this stretch leads to motorists facing a lot of problems while taking turns or when crossing from one side to another through these cuts. This has led to a number of accidents on the NH.

In May, a cyclist was crushed under a truck that was taking a turn at one of the cuts on this road near Kalpana Square. A truck had crashed into the wall of a building on the roadside while crossing the road through one of these cuts. One person had got buried under the debris of the wall.

The traffic officials and the NH division authorities carried out a survey and found that 17 of these cuts in the toad were unnecessary and creating problems in controlling traffic.

“We took a decision to close these cuts. The NH division officials will take necessary steps shortly,” said the assistant commissioner of police (ACP), traffic, Binod Das.

He said the new median at Kalpana Square was important for smooth vehicular movement.

This stretch of around 200 metres witnesses chaotic traffic scenes almost throughout the day. The construction of the median on this stretch will reduce accidents.

Besides, traffic officials have talked to the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) to restructure a triangular park in front of the state museum.

“They have assured us that they will turn this place into a traffic circle like the one at Master Canteen which will help in traffic regulation,” said Das.

The NH division officials said the traffic police wing had written to them to close the divider cuts on the road. “Earlier, they had asked us to make these cuts but now they are asking us to close them. We have to cooperate with them,” said an NH division official.

They said that during the joint inspection they decided to follow the common rule of keeping a distance of around 300 to 500 metres between successive divider cuts.

“The construction of the new divider at Kalpana Square will be taken up very soon. We have informed the public works department, which will carry out the work,” said B.C. Pradhan, chief engineer, NH (Odisha).

Traffic officials said they had given suggestions to the NH division officials to carry out certain other works that would help in better traffic management on this road.