GUNTUR: Traffic woes in the city have been on the rise in the city, as it has been expanding at a rapid pace and due to the increase in population and the number of daily commuters. Damaged roads and lack of proper parking lots in main areas have only added to the trouble. To resolve the problem, the civic body and Traffic Police conducted inspections and identified that small shops had been set up in cellars of shopping malls, offices, hospitals, and hotels, instead of using them as parking spaces.
Under the directions of Urban SP Arif Hafeez, traffic police conducted special drives and issued notices to such building owners. They are also identifying new spaces in busy areas of the city for parking. Specific blocks are being arranged in Brodipet and Arundalpet. Spaces are being marked for parking in busy areas such as Naz Center, Amaravathi Road, Kothapet, Old Club Road, Gujjanagundla, Nehru Nagar, Lakshmipuram, Pattabhipuram, Lalapet areas.
Traffic DSP Ramana Kumar said stern action will be taken if the people park their vehicles outside the line. He added that action will be taken against cellar owners who use the space for anything but parking.
On the other hand, GMC officials are planning to construct the permitted road over the bridges (ROBs) at Inner Ring Road, Sanjeevaiah Nagar, and road under bridges at Syamala Nagar, and Nehru Nagar. The engineering officials and town planning officials have inspected areas and have started drafting the costs and plans to speed up the process.
Proposal for a 6-lane expressway at Rs 175 cr
Recognising the importance to extend the Brodipet flyover, GMC in coordination with the R&B department has proposed to build an elevated six-lane expressway by replacing the existing bridge, at a cost of Rs 175 crore. GMC Commissioner Ch Anuradha said the proposal is to dismantle the existing bridge and construct a new 120 feet wide six-lane flyover and build a road under the bridge. The proposal was forwarded to the Railways and the R&B department in 2017. But due to unknown reasons, the project has not seen the light of the day yet, she said.