Three rotaries coming up on Vikas Marg in Chandigarh

Sandeep Rana

Chandigarh, December 15

With an aim to curb road accidents, three traffic light junctions are being converted into roundabouts on the Vikas Marg.

With the construction of these rotaries, there will be no light point on this stretch, which starts from the road separating Sectors 48/47 and culminates at the Sector 56/39 section.

Threat to commuters

• Gaping holes have been left on the edges of newly built Sector 44/45/50/51 roundabout, posing a risk to lives of commuters
• These are tricky especially for two-wheeler riders during night hours. Also, CCTV cameras poles jut out on to the road

The work on the Sector 44/45/51/50 roundabout is almost complete and only finishing touches are to be given, while work on the Sector 46/47/48/49 rotary started a few days ago. The traffic heading towards this junction has been diverted.

Will ensure safety

There are 11 intersections on Vikas Marg and all have rotaries, except three. Roundabouts will ensure safety from accidents. —CB Ojha, UT Chief Engineer

The work on converting the third traffic light junction to a rotary at Sector 45/46/49/50 is yet to start. The remaining junctions already have roundabouts on the Vikas Marg. These rotaries, though, will have traffic lights too.

“There are 11 intersections on this stretch. All of these have rotaries, except three. Now, these will have roundabouts. It is being done for safety from accidents,” says UT Administration’s Chief Engineer CB Ojha.

Officials say the impact of accidents at light points is higher than at rotaries. At a roundabout, the collision of vehicles is not head-on, so these are less severe. Also, there are fewer accidents as vehicles tend to slow down while approaching a roundabout.

To lessen the impact during road accidents, the city Municipal Corporation had earlier reduced the height of six roundabouts in the city from nearly two feet to nine inches. The MC also created a six-foot-wide paver block strip circumventing the roundabouts to slow down the speed of a crashing vehicle.

Besides, three small roundabouts were built and remodelled on interior roads of Sectors 49, 50 and 51.