Residents and corporators have urged PMC to widen the stretch near Ekalavya College in Kothrud
As per the proposal, the route from Bharat Ratna Maharshi Karve Memorial to Shantivan Chowk in old Kothrud limits was planned to be developed as a 36m-wide road in Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) 1987 development plan (DP).
Elected representatives said commuters from Kothrud, Warje, Bavdhan and surrounding areas will get relief if the road is widened. Residents further said authorities should ensure that illegal parking on this road is tackled stringently to enable better utilisation of the carriageway.
Local corporators have pushed the civic administration to take up this work, with a proposal already tabled before the City Improvement Committee (CIC) and standing committee.
However, in the DP for 23 villages merged into PMC, continuation of the same road in newly merged Kothrud limits is shown as only 15m wide.
This discrepancy between the existing road width in the old limits and proposed road width in the subsequent section is a serious matter from the perspective of future traffic planning, said residents. Residents said the road’s narrow width and lack of footpaths have made it accident-prone, calling its widening the need of the hour. If this bottleneck is resolved, it will bring great relief,” said Ashwini Pathak, a regular commuter on this route.
“Traffic jams are severe here, especially during peak hours. Commuters spend a lot of time travelling via this stretch.