4 weeks Ago By Sarang Dastane
1 2 3 Pune: Traffic police and the civic body have decided to divert vehicles around the busy Mundhwa chowk which daily experiences chaos with commuters waiting in long queues during peak hours. The key junction sees traffic from the Kharadi bypass, Mundhwa goan, Magarpatta and Ghorpadi. Currently, vehicles have to wait for long at the junction.
The problems lead to increased instances of wrong-side driving and two-wheelers using footpaths. The traffic police have proposed restriction on right turns at the chowk and will instead allow U turns. Vehicles from Mundhwa will not be able to travel directly right towards Ghorpadi.
Similarly, the right turn for vehicles coming from Kharadi towards Ghorpadi and for vehicles coming from Ghorpadi towards Magarpatta will remain closed. The chowk will remain signal-free to encourage continuous and smooth movement of vehicles. A meeting is likely to be held on Wednesday to discuss the issue with local residents and commuters who have raised concerns that the changes may increase travel time.
The traffic police plan to introduce the changes in phases over the next couple of days. Officials said the diversions will remain in place for two weeks on an experimental basis. The intention is to allow free flow of traffic and no waiting at the chowk.
Commuters, especially those from Mundhwa-Keshavnagar area, said the travel time may increase because of the proposed changes. They said the changes were introduced briefly on Sunday, but were not effective — mainly due to inadequate space for U turns and the huge traffic flow from every direction. Frequent commuter Akshay Shinde said, "Traffic planners are banking on U turns to keep the chowk sans signals and free of right turns.
But the existing space available for U turns at Kharadi and Magarpatta is inadequate for big vehicles. Authorities will have to work out alternatives to restrict chaos and slow movement of vehicles." Mundhwa resident Sujay Thakar said a significant number of vehicles travel from Mundhwa-Keshavnagar towards Ghorpadi and Kharadi through the day.
All these vehicles should get adequate space to take a U turn if the authorities plan to ban right turns. Citizens said the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has not worked on alternatives such as a bridge connecting Kharadi and Mundhwa or a flyover at Mundhwa chowk. Meanwhile, PMC has cleared some encroachments at Mundhwa chowk.
Local residents said there is a need to clear more space to reduce bottlenecks and widen the junction. Free left turns on all sides and a dedicated channel for left turns will help reduce chaos. "Existing left turns, especially from Magarpatta towards Ghorpadi and from Ghorpadi towards Kharadi are very sharp.
It leads to slow movement of vehicles," said Ashok Pande, a local resident..
