HYDERABAD: Hyderabad is all set to get six new flyovers to ease its traffic. But if the history of flyovers is to be considered, they hardly seem to have solved the city’s traffic problems.
The bidding process for two new flyovers have already begun. One, a 2.8km long six-lane, two-way flyover connecting Shaikpet to Film Nagar and another a 1.8km long multi-level flyover or grade separator connecting Botanical Garden, Kothaguda and Kondapur junctions. Both the flyovers together are expected at an estimated cost of `600 crore.
“Fly overs are only a stop gap arrangement. At the most, they can resolve an immediate crisis for a while but don’t serve as long term solution to traffic snarls,” said Anant Mariganti, president of Hyderabad Urban Labs.In 2015, the state government had announced the construction of 20 new flyovers in the city as part of the Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP). The aim was the same while constructing the Panjagutta, Begumpet flyovers in the 90’s. At present, the city has as many as 16 flyovers.
But most of them are traffic bottlenecks. Studies say that traffic bottlenecks increase with rise in vehicle population. According to Regional Transport Authority (RTA) data, the rate of vehicles being added to Hyderabad in 2015-16 alone was 8.67 per cent. “It is not just about the continuous increase in the vehicle population but the built-up environment on the either end of the flyover.
If that grows, then more vehicles will follow adding to more traffic,” said Anant. “When you build a flyover, it opens up traffic for a while but then it attracts more vehicles to come. So, in the end you are stuck in the same traffic,” he added.
“Building flyovers and increasing road capacity is not going to solve the traffic problem of Hyderabad,” said GSR Chaitanya, an associate with Institute for Transportation and Development Policy in Chennai.
“Delhi is a classic example, they have been expanding their road capacity over the years. Delhi has a 200 km long metro and over 4,000 buses, yet they have major traffic problems. The only way forward for Hyderabad is to satisfy the public’s transport demand by expanding public transport services,” he added.
Traffic flow of Hyderabad
A study done by Ola in 2016, titled “Ola Insights: Average speed and traffic spots of the big Indian cities” found that the average speed of traffic in Hyderabad is 27.1 km/ hour above the national average of 22.7 km/ hour The data base website Numbero puts the average travel time for a Hyderabadi to travel 15 km is 43.42 minutes
Building flyovers and increasing road capacity is not going to solve the traffic problem of Hyderabad
GSR Chaitanya, Expert