Bhubaneswar: As the much-anticipated Bomikhal flyover nears its completion the commuters in the city have blown hot and cold about the opening of the bridge with a majority of them complaining its haphazard traffic diversions.
Proposed in 2008-09 the Bomikhal flyover after missing four consecutive deadlines, claiming two lives and injuring several others in collapses of 2017 and 2018 is set to see the light of the day. With final touches being underway sources say the bridge will open to public in the first week of March.
However, the commuters have expressed resentment over the flyover’s traffic routes that seem to have aggravated their plights. The three-way bridge opening from Esplanade Mall; Ekamra Hall and Maharshi College road will have one-way traffics from their respective areas but can only be accessed from Bhomikhal and Shahid Nagar.
So, if you are a daily commuter to these locations, sample this – you can access the bridge from Bomikhal and reach Sahid Nagar. But, if you wish to return you will have to reach Esplanade and return to Bomikhal via service road. Similarly, if you want to reach Shahid Nagar from Rasulgarh you will have to access the bridge from Ekamra as opposed to the current use of railway crossing under the bridge.
“This has been done to ease traffic snarls on the flyover. The one-ways will get rid of constant gridlocks in the vicinity. To avoid clogging, we will place barriers at the opening of the bridge near the Ekamra hall that will segregate the traffic coming from Rasulgarh and Kalpana,” explained Pramod Nayak, executive engineer at Works Department.
According to sources, the railway crossing at Shahid Nagar will be closed for public once the flyover starts functioning. This does not seem to go well with Debojit Sahoo who runs a shop near Inox Bhavani. “I stay at Palasuni and reach Shahid Nagar through the crossing. It will make zero sense if I’ve to travel all the way to Bomikhal to reach my destination. They should have made it accessible from Rasulgarh,” he groused.
However, residents near Bomikhal have expressed relief with the opening of the bridge. As Prakash Swain says, “The bridge will certainly ease traffic congestion which we have been seeing for six years. It was a nightmare for us to go out during peak hours as vehicles would clog our gateways for hours.”
PNN
