RRL bottleneck continues

BHOPAL: Traffic during peak hours crawls at the RRL bottleneck due to the ongoing construction of Habibganj ROB. While traffic has been diverted and pillars for ROB erected bang on middle of the road, vehicles negotiate sharp bends on a battered stretch and slows down during peak evening hours. At night when vehicles and dumpers ply through the stretch, it turns into a dangerous zone, triggering near-collisions when traffic merges from left and right of the pillar.
Half the road has been barricaded with cranes and heavy equipment ploughing through construction work. After missing six deadlines, BMC claims the ROB will be ready by December, 2015 - a project which has missed six deadlines and seen a cost escalation by double.
"Vehicles are pouring in from all sides and we are trying our best to ease traffic movement. Between 6-7 pm the traffic is at its peak and if people drive responsibly, the gridlocks can be avoided," said.
Speaking to TOI, BMC additional commissioner and in charge of flyover projects, Chandramouli Shukla, said, "The four-armed bridge will be ready in another 10 months. Construction work is causing inconvenience to commuters, but a separate road on the side has been opened for vehicular movement. Separate traffic signals have been set up at the beginning of the RRL stretch to streamline movement and traffic cops are regulating traffic. Any big project does cause some problems, but once the project is through by the end of the year, it will be a boon. The current project cost is Rs 71.4 crore."