Hyderabad: The first day of turning the entire five-kilometer KBR Park road into a one-way route by the Hyderabad Traffic Police witnessed slowdowns at core arterial roads despite signage and several cops being around, as commuters struggled to adapt to the new system on Tuesday, August 18.
The KBR Park road that connects to Hitech City, Gachibowli and Film Nagar via Jubilee Hills Road No 45 usually witnesses high traffic in the morning from around 9.30 am onwards till noon, which is peak office rush hour. With both sides now becoming one-way (clockwise), there was a bigger slowdown than usual as commuters who missed signboards were seen crossing lanes to reach their destination.
For instance, while coming from the KBR Park entry at Banjara Hills Road No 12, one has to stick to the left side of the road to go to the FIlm Nagar main road or towards Jubilee Hills Road No 45. The right side has been kept open to facilitate smooth traffic flow going towards the Jubilee Hills Checkpost. However, many people, especially to escape the slowdown or jam, crossed lanes and eventually were caught switching lanes, making things worse, especially after 10.30 am.
Routes leading to KBR also crawl
Given that it was the first day, some traffic disruption was expected. However, the congestion was unusually slow even for the morning peak hours. Around KBR Park, the major bottlenecks typically occur in the evening, particularly for traffic coming from Hitech City towards Banjara Hills road numbers 12 and 10.
Commuters who live nearby and use the routes daily also pointed out that this new system has resulted in roads leading up to KBR also getting jammed. Even around 12:30 pm, the road in front of Niloufer Cafe on Banjara Hills Road No 12 was jammed for at least 200 metres throughout.
“The roads around KBR Park are actually quite large. The only bottleneck is in front of the park’s entrance at the signal and at the roundabout near Banjara Hilla Road No 10. Otherwise, there is moving traffic daily. This one-way system is more suited for a city like Bengaluru, where the roads are smaller. The Hyderabad Traffic Police will end up creating more traffic jams than solving anything,” Pranav S, a college student who stays in Banjara Hills and uses these routes daily, told Siasat.com.
On Tuesday, several traffic police personnel, including Joel Davis, the Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), were on the KBR Park road monitoring the situation. The change is also important as many VIPs, including politicians such as Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, live in the area. It is to be seen if the bottlenecks continue even after a few days.
Change in route for flyovers
The massive change in the system is due to the state government’s ambitious plan to construct seven flyovers that lead to Hitech City and Gachibowli due to the regular traffic jams happening around the park. However, it has also led to several protests by concerned citizens against it due to the uprooting of several trees and also due to a concern of the ecology being damaged by the work.
Despite a Supreme Court order stopping the felling of trees eventually, the state government has gone ahead with the work. As roads have been dug up on the main thoroughfare for the installation of pillars for the flyovers, the Hyderabad Traffic Police decided to turn the entire road into a one-way street.
