Pune: The long-pending work of construction of a service road near the Katraj-Kondhwa road is likely to begin next month. Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) had acquired approximately 835 square metres of land last week for construction of the service road. The land was provided by Bhushan housing society in Katraj.
The society would be compensated in cash as per regulations. The govt has allocated Rs 140 crore for land acquisition of this road. "The service road will play an important role in reducing traffic congestion.
The administration is carrying out negotiations with landowners who are yet to give up land for the project," said Aniruddha Pawaskar, head of PMC's road department. According to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), once the service road is completed, it would help in speeding up the work of Katraj flyover. Allocation of funds from the govt had helped in quick completion of deals, a civic official said.
"Non-availability of funds could lead to delay in completion of the project. Once the service road is ready, the flyover's landing could be started immediately," said a senior NHAI official. The deadline for completion of the flyover at the busy Katraj Chowk has been extended till Jan 2025.
The work was earlier supposed to be completed in June this year. The flyover would connect Navale Bridge and Katraj Road with Katraj-Kondhwa Road. The aim is to reduce traffic jams at the junction and eliminate the need for vehicles to halt at the crossing.
With work on the project stretching on, barricading installed on both the road stretches has been causing traffic snarls in the area. Four major roads cross at the junction, and a PMPML bus terminus is located at one end of the chowk. The Katraj-Kondhwa road covers areas like Rajas Society to Khadi Machine Chowk up to newly merged Pisoli areas.
PMC has already utilised around Rs 48 crore from public funds for construction of the road. Civic officials said that the state govt had approved Rs 200 crore, which would be sufficient for constructing a 50-metre road. The civic administration would have needed around Rs 360 crore for constructing an 84-metre road.
The road width was reduced from 84 metres to 50 metres as the land was not available for the project. The civic administration needs around 2.88 lakh sq metres of land.
The stretch of the road is around 3 km. The work of laying service lines in nearly half of the road is complete. The construction of an underpass and a flyover near the road is underway, said a PMC official.
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