BHUBANESWAR: To reduce mishaps and cut down on travel time, the Commissionerate Police has proposed to implement ‘lane driving’ on National Highway-16 connecting the Twin Cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. It has submitted a proposal to the Home department to segregate vehicles on the NH lanes as per speed limit. The NH-16 is a six-lane highway with three lanes each sides. Traffic wing of Commissionerate Police has suggested to fix a 40 km-60 km/ hr speed for the left lane, 60 km/hr for the middle and 60 km-80 km/hr for the right lane of the highway between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.
The extreme left lane will be meant for twowheelers, middle would be for heavy vehicles including buses, and extreme right will be for cars. As per Commissionerate Police’s current regulations, speed limit is fixed as per the vehicle type. Fourwheeler and heavy vehicle drivers are not allowed to go beyond 70 km/hr between Palasuni bridge and Balikuda stretch while two and three-wheelers are not allowed to drive over 50 km/hr. Per-lane speed limit will help the commuters to reduce their travel time between the Twin City. If approved, the Traffic wing has planned to implement the proposal in three stages.
The first stage will include marking lanes with thermoplastic paint, install signage, and gantries in every 2 km on the highway. In the second stage, bollards will be installed near the gantries at five locations for physical segregation of the commuters, while the third stage will include enforcement. The proposal is based on global best practices and will reduce accidents on the highway.
“The objective behind the plan is to discourage commuters from driving in a serpentine manner and over-taking dangerously. We are hopeful that if the plan is approved and executed, it will reduce road accidents on the highway to a great extent,” said Traffic DCP Sagarika Nath. Last year, 354 motor vehicle accidents were reported in Bhubaneswar and 239 in Cuttack between January and July.
SPEED LIMIT
Two-wheelers on extreme left lane: 40 km/hr to 60 km/hr speed
Heavy Vehicles on middle lane: 60 km/hr
Cars on extreme right lane: 60 km/hr to 80 km/hr