Jaipur: In a move to enhance traffic flow, the engineers of the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) are earmarking several intersections located beneath elevated roads, railway overbridges, and flyovers to be converted into signal-free zones. This decision follows a recent meeting where officials reviewed similar successful projects implemented in Delhi.JDA officials said the new commissioner, Siddharth Mahajan, had earlier instructed engineers to ensure that intersections beneath flyovers, elevated roads, and RoBs did not get unnecessarily congested.
“Following this, a team of six engineers have gone to Delhi to study the mechanism of the signal-free crossings designed by the Delhi Development Authority. Now we are earmarking the problematic intersections and would try to make them signal-free by construction rotaries, u-loop turnabouts or slip lanes,” an engineer stated.Currently, the city had two signal-free crossings. Laxmi Mandir Tiraha on Tonk Road was the city’s first signal free crossing, and the JDA also made the B2B Crossing on Tonk Road signal-free. The earlier Congress govt decided to make a few other crossings signal-free, including the Rambagh Circle, so that the entire stretch of Tonk Road between Ajmeri Gate and B2B Bypass cross got signal-free. “As of now we have plans to make the OTS Chauraha –considered to be one of the busiest intersections of the city –as signal-free as soon as possible. In addition, all these intersections below the elevated roads, flyovers and RoBs will also be made signal-free,” an official added. A senior JDA official said a major hindrance to taking up any new traffic-related constructions was the metro railway. The official said that as the govt gave priority to metro connectivity to reduce traffic congestion, there was a clear problem that JDA could not construct any traffic infrastructure without the consent of the Jaipur Metro Railway Corporation (JMRC). Officials added that the fate of a proposed elevated road over Jhalana Bypass was hanging because of this issue. “These signal-free projects with only rotaries or u-loop structures are cost effective. If needed, we may remove them in the future,” an official signed off.
