Vijayawada:Traffic to ease as Benz circle flyover nears completion

Vijayawada: Commuters will have a huge relief from chock-a-block traffic at the Benz circle junction as the flyover works there are set to be completed in two months. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has speeded up the construction works of underpass and approach road near the Jyothy Mahal.

Once the flyover works are over, it will be used for passage of heavy vehicles on the Chennai-Kolkata highway in the city. The existing highway will be used for cars, auto-rikshaws, two-wheelers and other vehicles.

The flyover was sanctioned as part of the Machilipatnam-Hyderabad highway project. The Union government extended support for the speedy completion of the flyover, which is the dream of the citizens for more than three decades. Compared to the Durga temple flyover works, the Benz circle flyover works have gone a brisk pace and more than 90 per cent works were completed in less than three years.

NHAI project director M Vidya Sagar told The Hans India that underpass and approach road works at Jyothy Mahal were in full swing and would be completed in one month. He said heavy vehicles will pass over the flyover which has length of 1,450 metre and existing highway will be used for lighter vehicles.

More than 70,000 vehicles pass via Benz circle junction every day, one of the busiest junctions in the state. Traffic on the MG Road connecting city and Poranki, Penamaluru and Machilipatnam is also gradually increasing in recent years.

All these factors lead to traffic snarls at the Benz circle regularly. The drivers have to wait between 10 to 20 minutes at the spot to cross the junction. During the morning and evening hours, the traffic problem is very high stretching the waiting period to 30 minutes.

The flyover was designed with six lanes. Initially, work on three lanes is completed. The second part will be started later. Vijayawada MP Kesineni Srinivas along with Guntur MP Galla Jayadev recently met Union minister for transport Nitin Gadkari in Delhi and requested him to give permission for construction of the second part of the flyover and sanction funds.

After many years of delay, the flyover work began in June 2017 and are continuing at a brisk pace. In the meantime, a large number of people had suffered many hardships due to traffic snarls at the Benz circle, Ramesh Hospital Junction and Ramavarappadu junction. The commuters will get respite at Benz circle in two months after the inauguration of the flyover.