Pune: The accident prone stretch between Katraj New Tunnel and Narhe bridge has been fitted with 1000 solar road stud lights and speed limit panels. This move comes after several complaints to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) as back-to-back accidents were reported in this area in the last month.
This stretch has witnessed at least seven fatal accidents in the year 2020. The NHAI had so far ignored complaints made by citizens about the accidents caused due to erroneous structuring of the road. Finally, the central authority has woken up from slumber and acted upon to alert motorists – especially heavy vehicles – about the road speed limit and the steep descent.
Along with the stud lights and speed limit panels, rumble strips have also been installed on this stretch. The authorities have also asked drivers to slow down the speed of their vehicles in this stretch area.
NHAI Project Director Suhas Chitnis said, “The preventive measures will be taken to reduce accidents on the highway. These measures will also help to ease commutes for motorists on the highway.”
The stretch from the new Katraj tunnel to Navale bridge chowk is around six to seven kilometre long. There are multiple hoardings on this stretch installed by the Pune traffic police department. It says: Do not switch off the engines of the vehicle or put the vehicle on neutral.
The stretch has turned into an accident-prone area as it sees a lot of speeding cars, buses and trucks. The Pune traffic police last year launched a study to monitor the accident spot. They also planned to come up with solutions to slow the traffic here.