The duration of green light at Shastri Chowk in the city has been causing chaos among the commuters as the time given to cross over to the other side of the square is very less compared to the distance.
Shastri Chowk is among the busiest squares in the city that funnels traffic from Pandri, railway station, Telibandha, university, Tatibandh and various other parts of the city. Jam-packed during the rush hours, people tend to speed-up as soon as the signal turns green.
After 60 seconds of wait, commuters are given a time frame of 20 seconds to commute from the petrol pump over to lal Quila replica or vice versa. This arrangement works perfectly fine at other squares of the city but because of the extra large length and breadth at Shastri Chowk, 20 seconds do not suffice for the commuters.
“I have been informed about this problem and will soon review the duration of the green light for better traffic movement,” said additional Superintendent of Police (traffic) Balram Hirwani. Because of the time crunch, there is a constant hurry among the commuters and speeding-up between the thick traffic cause scores of accidents, both major and minor.
We study the functioning of the signals at regular intervals and make alterations if needed, said Hirwani. The duration of red, green and yellow lights at a traffic signal are set based on various factors like flow of traffic, distance from the next and previous signal etc. Increasing the duration of red light could cause halting of more number of vehicles at the next stop. To make changes in this system, a structured study is carried out.