Hyderabad: Road widened but traffic still a menace on Cyberabad stretches

HYDERABAD: While the worsening traffic conditions across the city continue to be a major headache for citizens, crossing two major stretches in the Cyberabad area — Kothaguda to Botanical Gardens and Nallagandla main road — seem to be really testing the patience of commuters.
Commuters complain that during peak hours it easily takes an hour to reach Inorbit Mall from Kothaguda, with a 15 to 25-minute halt at Botanical Gardens signal alone, despite the fact that road widening has been carried out on that route.
“The situation on the Kothaguda-Gachibowli stretch and up to Inorbit Mall has remained the same for nearly two years now. Each time promises are made ahead of elections, but the road condition on many stretches is seriously bad,” said Nagesh B, who travels from the Manjeera pipeline road to Gachibowli.
According to commuters, road widening has not solved the problem as there are bottlenecks on many stretches leading to Botanical Gardens junction and the number of vehicles too has increased.
“Road widening has eased traffic on a few stretches leading to Botanical Gardens junction but eventually the five lanes converge into two lanes, holding up traffic. In fact, if one drives without breaking traffic rules, it can easily take 25 minutes to cross this junction during peak hours. The road from Platina towards Rolling Hills also has traffic bottlenecks,” said Aditya Agarwal, a regular commuter.
“When the road was not widened, the number of vehicles taking the route was less. But the volume has kept on increasing. Each day you can spot a number of new vehicles with temporary registration stickers. Also, many frequently break traffic rules even when a cop is standing at the spot, like at the Udupi restaurant near Platina where vehicles come in the wrong direction,” said techie Srija Rao.
The Nallagandla main road is another stretch where unending road work continues to hit traffic.