Pune: The city’s congested Nagar Road is in immediate need of safe pedestrian crossings, the Association of Nagar Road Citizens Forum said this week, as it called for a traffic review of the entire route. After traffic police introduced “signal-free Nagar Road”, safe crossings for pedestrians are now non-existent on the route, the forum said in a statement. It highlighted 15 major observations and concerns regarding commuters’ safety while adding that the new traffic changes — in place for two months along a 7-km section of the road — risked people’s safety.The authorities had removed traffic signals on this stretch to boost vehicular flow, introducing many more U-turns instead. But the Nagar Road forum said insufficient provisions of barricades and blinkers at the U-turns had led to “hardships and chaos”. Motorists wanting to take U-turns are finding it difficult to locate them and after taking a U-turn, the drivers are unable to change lanes smoothly as they negotiate with speeding traffic in the main lanes, the citizen group said. The group also raised serious concerns over what it said was the “haphazard removal” of BRTS lanes. It added that authorities removed the transit system’s lanes, but its bus shelters continued to remain at some points on Nagar Road.Convenor of the forum, activist Qaneez Sukhrani, said the group has been flagging these problems for the last couple of months. The situation is becoming alarming. Authorities must take stock of the traffic flow on the entire stretch and prioritise pedestrians while implementing the signal-free concept to reduce congestion, she said.Sukhrani added: “By and large, there are no provisions for pedestrian crossings such as at-grade crossings, zebra crossings, or even wardens to assist people who want to cross. I would urge the traffic police to incorporate warden assistance at grade crossings for pedestrians at regular intervals, especially at the spots where signals have been removed and U-turns put in place.”
