Peak hour traffic chokes Zirakpur-Chandigarh stretch

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 10

Frequent and prolonged traffic jams on the stretch between old airport light point and Tribune chowk have become a daily ordeal for residents of Zirakpur and Dera Bassi coming to the city for work. Long serpentine queues can be witnessed on this stretch during morning and evening hours.

Manpreet Singh, a Zirakpur resident, said, “Long traffic jams greet us as soon as we enter Chandigarh every morning. The situation is similar when we leave the city in the evening. With the authorities not coming out with any solution, commuting to the city has become arduous for people living in the peripheral areas.”

Another Zirakpur resident Jasmer, who is a daily commuter, expressed similar concerns over growing traffic snarls on the stretch. “Though long traffic jams are order of the day in Zirakpur, the situation in Chandigarh is getting even worse,” he said.

Despite the presence of traffic police personnel at both old airport light point and Hallo Majra, there is no relief. The fear of getting stuck in traffic jams has forced many commuters to shun their cars and switch to two-wheelers to reach their destination on time. “I always preferred driving car during winters, but due to agonising traffic snarls in the city, I am forced to ride a motorbike to commute to my office,” said Malkit Singh, another commuter.

As complaints pile up, people emphasise the need for the UT traffic police to come up with measures to alleviate the worsening situation. UT SSP Kanwardeep Kaur, who is officiating as SSP Traffic, said, “We have changed and adjusted timings of traffic lights as per the traffic flow and increased the deployment of personnel at all points for manual intervention to deal with the traffic coming from Zirakpur.”

She said the proposals regarding widening of roads and service lanes and construction of underpasses were in the pipeline, which when cleared would help resolve the issue to a large extent.

Arduous journey

• Stretch between old airport light point and Tribune chowk sees long traffic jams during morning and evening hours
• Residents of Zirakpur and Dera Bassi who commute to the city for work are at receiving end
• With the situation getting worse by the day, commuters shifting to two-wheelers to cut travel time
• UT SSP Kanwardeep Kaur says proposals for widening roads and service lanes are being taken up

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Tribune News Service

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