In an example of ill-planned measures taken by the authorities concerned, the series of rumble-strips on Balliwala flyover continue to discourage vehicle users from using this flyover.
The rumble strips were incorporated supposedly to mitigate the frequent accidents taking place on this flyover but the measure taken by the authorities has not had the desired result as most of the vehicle users are now preferring to use the service lane instead of the flyover, resulting in traffic disorder.
Now the Public Works Department (PWD) has decided to bring down the number of rumble strips from 17 to eight, but most of the locals and daily travelers especially two wheeler riders have decided to avoid going through the flyover till the said changes are made.
Deepak Singh, a resident of Shakti Vihar has a shop in Premnagar. He said, “The idea behind this flyover was to provide a better option and space for the traffic going daily towards ISBT. However, due to the construction of these rumble strips all the traffic that earlier used to pass through the flyover is now passing through the service lanes instead. We expected traffic congestion to reduce after the construction of flyover, not the other way round.”
Bipin Bhardwaj, a commuter who works at Doon Business Park said, “I use this flyover daily. Earlier we used to go through the flyover because it saves time. You don’t have to mingle with the traffic going to Saharanpur Chowk. Now after these rumble strips were introduced, I prefer service lane instead of the flyover. This is nothing but a headache, especially for us two wheeler riders.”
Ashok Kumar, a local resident said, “This step was taken because of the increasing number of accidents that were happening here. My point is, those who were earlier breaking the traffic rules are still doing the same. On the other hand, people like me who follow traffic rules every time they ride or drive are facing problems unnecessarily.”
It is pertinent to mention here that due to the increasing number of accidents on Balliwala flyover the state government was facing criticism from the public and media.
A day after the chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat visited the flyover recently, a biker was killed in road accident there.
After this, taking quick action the PWD constructed rumble strips to restrict the speed of vehicles on the flyover. However, the resulting inconvenience has made many of the vehicle users use the service lanes instead of the flyover which has resulted in considerable traffic congestion on the service lanes and connected roads.
Observers point out that the authorities first erred by constructing a single lane flyover.
Since then too, aspects in design, facilitation of traffic movement and lack of enforcement of traffic regulations by the authorities have continued to exacerbate the problems.
The PWD now plans to reduce the rumble strips from 17 to eight though the time frame for this work is yet to be fixed.