NMC to install 24 signals

NAGPUR: Traffic gridlocks in the state’s second capital are likely to end with the Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) initiative to install 24 new traffic signals. The civic body will also take up the junction improvement work.

The NMC’s traffic department has selected 24 new junctions where Light Emitting Diode (LED) traffic signals which are more effective compared to the traditional incandescent signals will be installed.

Similarly, renovation of 26 old junctions will be carried out, said NMC’s junior engineer S Zodape. The general body has sanctioned Rs 2 crore, he added.

New signals will be installed in all the important junctions where the flow of traffic is more. They include, Shatabdi Chowk, Uday Nagar, Omkar Nagar, Jaripatka police station square, Kapil Nagar square and Tathagat Chowk. Similarly, the NMC has also included three new locations between Mankapur chowk and Maruti showroom.

Simultaneously, 26 old junctions will be upgraded with LED signals for better visibility, he said.
“It is a continuous process. We are upgrading junctions to ensure smooth flow of traffic as the volume of vehicles is increasing enormously,” he explained. He said that the LED signals will consume about 90 per cent less energy than conventional signals. RBI square, Variety square, Jhansi Rani square, Panchsheel Square, Lokmat Square are some of the places where such traffic signals will be installed on a war-footing. “Installation of traffic signals will solve the problem because it is very difficult to make the motorists heed to our traffic personnel,” said a senior official.
“Better late than never. The new traffic signals will be a boon to vehicle users in the city. At the Ladies Club square one finds vehicles halting at the ‘Stoplines’ until the electronic timers descend to zero. So there is no confusion. Besides, fuel wastage and pollution are avoided when vehicles stop at these signals and turn off their engines,” said a senior police official.

“These new electronic signals should be installed immediately at all the busy junctions. The new signals will be indeed useful in controlling the traffic. It is important that they are maintained properly so that they can be in a working condition always,” pointed out a senior police official.

Signals can reduce the pressure on the traffic police from deploying a large number of personnel whose services can be utilised in other areas. Despite heavy traffic, the junction at Wadi remains without traffic signals since many years. Despite a letter to the Municipal Commissioner, no action has been initiated.

Streamlining pedestrian movement also forms part of traffic policing, but despite zebra crossings and provision of signals at a few places, citizens don’t care.

Autorickshaws may be hindering the traffic flow at most of the junctions, but star bus operator has ‘royally’ occupied half of the carriageway for parking vehicles on North Ambazari road near Jhansi Rani square thereby narrowing down the space for other vehicles.
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