GUNTUR: In a major relief to Guntur residents, the long pending construction of road-over-bridges (ROB) and road-under-bridges (RUB) in the city are soon to gain pace, as the civic officials along with railway department officials are conducting a survey.
According to 2011 Census of India, the city has a population of over 6 lakh, but with the city’s expansion, the population is expected to increase up to 9.5 lakh. Due to this, the number of vehicles being used by commuters increased to 6.3 lakh.
Along with this, the pending road extension works, and construction of RUBs and ROBs at proposed places are also adding to the difficulties of the commuters. The five approved RUBs at Syamala Nagar, Nehru Nagar, Seetha Nagar, Sanjeevaiah Nagar, and Gaddipadu railway crossings holding up traffic for several minutes causing huge discomfort to commuters.
T Rama Krishna, a resident of AT Agraharam said, several trains, including the ones to Hyderabad, Tirupati, Chennai, and other main cities, leave from Guntur station and these trains have to pass through Syamala Nagar railway crossing every 20-30 minutes. “When the railway gate is closed, the busy route gets jammed for several metres and it take more than 30 minutes to clear. The situation gets even worse from 8 am to 10 am and 5 pm to 8 pm when all school buses and heavy vehicles pass through the road,” he complained.
On the other hand, Aundeplet ROB constructed in 1956 continues to be the only link to Guntur West and Guntur East. With the increasing number of vehicles, the bridge is not enough for the smooth passing of traffic.
Highlighting this issue in the recent GMC general body meeting, MLC K Lakshman Rao asked the civic officials on the status of the works to which the officials informed that, the railway department has appointed a consultancy to conduct the survey for the construction of five proposed RUBs and the detailed project report (DPR) is at final stage.