Traffic snarls right from T-point at Victory Tunnel, pedestrians too hit
Tribune News Service
Shimla, July 10
Sandwiched between Victory Tunnel and Auckland Tunnel, the two-km road is another stretch on circular road which is over-crowded with vehicles causing perpetual traffic jams, hindering even pedestrian movement.
The congested road with limited scope for capacity augmentation has no space for pedestrians who walk along the carriage way hindering the flow of traffic. Commuters encounter traffic snarls right from T-point at Victory Tunnel as vehicular movement comes to a halt to give way to vehicle on the highway.
The link road to Annadale area, barely 100 m from Victory Tunnel, a three-storey parking lot and over 20 hotels on the 0.5-km stretch till Tara Hall cause long traffic jams while long queues of vehicles at the petrol pump located close by add to the woes of commuters, says Nalin Kumar, a resident of Upper Kaithu.
Managing traffic is daunting task, especially during the morning and afternoon as a large number of vehicles descend at Loreto Convent School, Tara Hall to drop and pick up children, clogging the narrow roads further.
Parking near Snow View and at the roadside along the narrow highway from the Convent school to Ice Skating Rink is another traffic hazard. Vehicles choke the road near Lakkar Bazaar bus stand.
People get down at the bus stand to go to Mall Road and the Tibetan market. Movement on the road is blocked when buses take a U-turn. With Government Senior Secondary Girls School, Lakkar Bazaar, a kindergarten and Auckland House School, two saw mills situated en route, commuting on the road becomes a nightmare. Logs of timber piled up ahead of the government girls school act as another hurdle.
People are forced to use their own vehicles in the absence of credible public transport. Mushrooming private vehicle numbers has add to congestion, says Ajit who owns a hotel at Lakkar Bazaar.
The bifurcation for Bharari area from Auckland and Longwood are main reasons for traffic congestion as a large number of hotels, offices and residences are located in these areas and the volume of traffic is very high.
Construction of Auckland tunnel has eased congestion on the road between the tunnel and the RKMV College to some extent but ever-increasing number of vehicles has neutralises the advantage.
There are no designated stops for local bus operators. Especially private operators stop buses at their convenience to pick up passengers creating a traffic bottleneck.