Pune: Traffic movement from North Main Road towards Koregaon Park bridge (Aga Khan bridge) has become smooth ever since the civic administration completed widening the turn and the stretch which connects ahead.Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) recently added one lane to the existing road and widened the bend, enabling vehicles to turn towards the bridge with fewer hurdles. Civic staffers and the traffic police have installed barricades at the entry point of the bridge to manage vehicular flow.Commuters in the area are appreciating PMC’s efforts to smoothen the traffic. However, their complain remains that the administration has not done much to ease traffic movement from North Main Road towards Tadigutta Chowk. The widening of the crucial stretch is still pending and citizens said they face immense problems while crossing the narrow road.Incidentally, a significant number of people go from the North Main Road towards Tadigutta Chowk to reach the passport office in Mundhwa. Regular motorists said the commute is cumbersome.Nikhil Patil, who recently went to the passport office, said he was stuck in a huge traffic jam ahead of Koregaon Park bridge chowk. “It took us 20 minutes to reach the passport office; the situation was similar while returning. The entire space from Tadigutta Chowk to North Main Road was chaotic,” Patil said.Local residents said that despite being a key connection to reach Mundhwa and move towards Keshavnagar-Manjari, the road has remained neglected. Many commercial establishments have come up along the road over the recent years, leading to an increase in vehicular population. The area is congested through the day and the situation worsens when it rains, citizens said.Sanjay Lonkar, a resident of Mundhwa, said Tadigutta Chowk to North Main Road is the way to take to go the main city. The existing road is four lanes, which is insufficient for the traffic flow; at least one extra lane is required on either side.PMC was in talks with the defence administration to initiate widening of the said stretch. Officials said widening has been initiated at some locations on the North Main Road to Tadigutta Chowk, but a larger plan is yet to be finalised.Koregaon Park bridge to have one additional wing, PMC expedites workAfter the widening of the bend towards Koregaon Park bridge, the civic administration has expedited the work of constructing a wing parallel to the existing bridge to ease the commute between Koregaon Park and Kalyaninagar. The work is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The existing bridge has four lanes and the new wing will provide more space for vehicles. PMC has constructed parallel wings to many existing bridges over the last few years. One such addition was commissioned along the Dengle Bridge a few years ago. Officials said there are no issues pertaining to the landing of the new wing on both ends.
