Balewadi’s call: Survey traffic, then open bridge

Pune: Development and infrastructure projects across the city are proceeding at breakneck speed, more often than not leaving significant collateral damage in their wake.Residents have been repeatedly pointing out that ill-planned ventures tend to do more harm than good — that wider roads, new bridges, flyovers, subways and more should not worsen existing civic issues, or create problems for a demographic different from the target. A fresh example of this dichotomy is the imminent opening of the long-awaited Balewadi-Wakad bridge over the Mula river. This new piece of infrastructure aims to resolve traffic congestion between Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad and ease the commute between prime areas of Baner, Balewadi, Hinjewadi and Mhalunge. Bombay high court most recently in Feb this year directed authorities to expedite pending land acquisition for the project to hasten its launch. But while the plan to boost connectivity in some of the fastest developing neighbourhoods of the city is important, residents of many smaller lanes around this route feel that they will be left struggling with the consequent flood of vehicles. Balewadi resident Ankush Deore told TOI that there are already several traffic chokepoints in the area, including Mamta Chowk, Radha Chowk and Balewadi High Street junction. Congestion at these spots will only rise once the new bridge is functional, he pointed out. Now, residents are collectively demanding that a fresh traffic study be conducted by Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) before willy-nilly launching the finished bridge project. Balewadi area already battling traffic crisis "Balewadi acts as a crucial link for residents of Hinjewadi, Wakad and Mhalunge to access areas like Baner or Aundh and further. It is key for thousands of IT professionals who live in different parts of Pune but need to access Hinjewadi daily for work. These commuters use the highway at present. With the opening of the bridge, they will start going through Balewadi to avoid highway congestion," added Deore, an entrepreneur. "The interior roads of Balewadi are simply not big enough to handle the anticipated traffic volume. The lanes are narrow, full of potholes, broken surfaces, absent or blocked pavements, and utterly chaotic during peak hours due to ongoing Metro work. Rampant construction here also means there will be more residents in the future. How will inadequate infrastructure manage this influx?" he asked. To get ahead of the looming chaos, members of Baner Balewadi Nagrik Manch (BBNM) met PMC municipal commissioner Naval Kishore Ram on May 8, requesting that a traffic impact study be conducted to ascertain challenges that will arise once the bridge opens. According to their submitted letter, such a study's findings would help determine where traffic signals, no-parking zones, traffic islands and more should be set up, where and what signages will be needed, and what would be the ideal timings to allow heavy vehicle movement in the locality, among other aspects. Precautionary measures essential to ease flow The bridge is important, but it shouldn't move the congestion from the highway to internal roads, summed up Swapnil Uttarwar, secretary of the Bliss Avenue society in Balewadi. "Sections of the Balewadi main road are blocked due to ongoing Metro work. Metro pillars have been erected right in the middle of the carriageway, and navigating this route is already quite stressful. Once the new bridge opens, traffic will increase two-fold at least. This may ease once the Metro line is done, but if the bridge starts before that, we need some solutions. There are multiple schools and colleges in the area, too, so we have at least four traffic peak hours on most days," Uttarwar told TOI. Further, said many residents, Balewadi lacks proper footpaths, forcing pedestrians to walk on these already narrow roads. "It gets so chaotic that I sometimes can't even imagine taking out my two-wheeler. Wrong-side driving is rampant, and the risk of getting into an accident is ever-prevalent. Before opening the bridge, the least PMC can do is conduct a proper analysis on how traffic can be reduced, fix alternative routes to ease congestion, get rid of hawkers, install working signals and assign traffic wardens at select spots," the IT professional added. Only updated study can consider growth It has also been pointed out by residents that with the rapid pace of new constructions Balewadi has witnessed in recent times, even a traffic study or road analysis done a year ago might prove to be ineffective, necessitating a fresh survey. "We have put forth our demand for a traffic audit before the civic chief. The bridge will benefit a lot of commuters and is an important piece of infrastructure that should open soon. But Balewadi is already struggling with traffic issues. All we need to know is whether work related to internal roads can be done before the bridge opens," said Ameya Jagtap, a founder-member of BBNM. "A Metro line runs through this area and its users will soon need access to walkable pathways, which do not currently exist. PMC must look into pedestrian facilities and the parking influx Metro will herald, in addition to the vehicular volume added by the new bridge. All this needs to be fixed before it becomes a further mess," he added. Experts seconded the need for a renewed traffic study, keeping in mind both developments done till date and plans for those proposed for future launch. Pratapsingh Bhonsle, a road safety and traffic operations engineer, told TOI, "Opening new connections like the bridge between Balewadi and Wakad may improve cross-river connectivity, but will also result in new traffic along this network. PMC may have a plan in place for the new corridor network and should look into improving traffic operations and safety. I am not privy to PMC's plans and hope officials place it in the public domain for stakeholder consultation. A traffic study may even have been already done to justify the bridge and its geometry, as well as the required vicinity roadway network to accommodate future traffic projections for the new corridor. If such a detailed study has been done, it may already include recommendations to mitigate impacts and improve corridor operations." "However, if this has not been done, or was done many years ago, it should be renewed now, keeping in mind future infrastructure projects, intercity connectivity, growing vehicular numbers, and permitted ongoing and future building development projects coming up here," he added. When contacted by TOI, Pune deputy commissioner of police (DCP-east) Manoj Patil said he is aware of the traffic situation in Balewadi. He added, "The demands made by the residents are not wrong. It's only fair for them to want to get ahead of things. I believe that before the bridge is opened for use to commuters, PMC and the traffic police department will definitely study the overall traffic situation in the area. This will also help us ensure that the neighbourhood does not get inundated with vehicles." EXPERT INPUTS ‘Focus on parking, walkways, traffic calming measures' The request by the citizens for a traffic study is appropriate and should be carried out to help mitigate future impacts. If the bridge construction has been completed, it should become operational only after the connected infrastructure and road network is in place. A focus on providing walkways, bicycle tracks, efficient on-street parking management systems, heavy vehicle movement restrictions, traffic calming measures, and blanket electronic traffic enforcement should be a part of the traffic study's recommendations. A detailed traffic review along with a pre-opening stage road safety audit of the proposed corridor should be carried out and its recommendations promptly accommodated — Pratapsingh Bhonsle | Road safety and traffic operations engineer ‘Data from such studies crucial for future planning' A traffic study in today's times must be dynamic and adaptable to ever-evolving traffic scenarios. This allows authorities to identify patterns, anomalies and pain points incrementally, and with their abilities and on-ground personnel, tailor existing infrastructure in real-time to ensure smooth and uninterrupted mobility during rush hours. Compiling all this data and building on it is imperative to future traffic planning and infrastructure development, and maybe forecasting personnel requirements as well. This way, the city is always prepared for influx of usage (peak hour) and impromptu situations that could arise without falling into panic, managing it all with the available workforce — Nishit Kamat | Traffic strategist PETITIONER SAYS Residents filed a PIL in HC in 2023 over the delay in opening the Balewadi-Wakad bridge out of sheer frustration. For years, a finished Rs31-crore bridge stood useless because of missing approach roads. Every day, 2.5 lakh commuters waste time and thousands of litres of fuel on a grueling 6km detour through Radha Chowk. We approached HC as civic dialogue failed and citizens refused to remain silent spectators to such administrative paralysis. While we welcome HC's order vacating the stay on land acquisition for the project, PMC's historical apathy is deeply concerning. It is a sad reflection on our governance that a civic body needs judicial threats just to do its job — Sandeep Mandloi | One of the petitioners in HC demanding steps to launch the bridge OFFICIAL VERSION A traffic study would have been conducted when the project was launched, and there must be some thought behind building the bridge. Having said this, while a fresh traffic study might not be necessary, we can definitely check other factors, like the carrying capacity of the road and if there are any missing links that need to be fixed. We should also check if the width of internal roads matches those shown in the development plan (DP) of the area — Nikhil Mijar | Transport planner, PMC