Shivajinagar MLA Siddharth Shirole inspected the traffic situation at Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) Chowk and Chaturshringi Junction on Monday evening, accompanied by DCP-Traffic Shashikant Borate and key officials from Pune Traffic Police, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), and Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA).
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also interacted with regular commuters and locals to assess the impact of recent traffic changes, especially the congestion during peak hours at SPPU Chowk.
"Taking into account citizen feedback, safety considerations, and construction efficiency, significant alterations to traffic routes will be implemented on the entire SPPU Road in the coming week. The new changes will be communicated in advance," Shirole wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Recently, trial-based traffic modifications were made at SPPU Chowk, which witnesses traffic from Pashan, Baner, Aundh, and the combined traffic of Ganeshkhind Road and Senapati Bapat Road, making it the busiest traffic junction in the city. Preliminary estimates by traffic police suggest that approximately 3 to 3.5 lakh vehicles pass through this junction on an average working day.
Under these changes, vehicles from Shivajinagar heading towards Pashan, beyond SPPU Chowk, utilised a separate left lane beginning before the pillar in the chowk. Simultaneously, vehicles bound for Baner used the left lane of Baner Road. Vehicles travelling from Pashan to SPPU Chowk continued using Abhimanshree Society Road to reach Baner Road first and then proceed to SPPU Chowk.
Over the past year, a circular one-way route from SPPU Chowk, Pashan Road, Pune Rural SP Office, Abhimanshree Pashan Chowk, Abhimanshree Baner Chowk, Baner Road, Sakal Nagar, and back to SPPU Chowk was implemented.
'Agriculture College internal road will take two more weeks to open'
Shirole raised concerns about traffic issues on Ganeshkhind Road during a meeting with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on January 21. Pawar instructed the PMC, PMRDA, and traffic police to open the internal road of Agriculture College from Mhasoba Gate to Sinchan Nagar (Bhosale Nagar) as soon as possible. However, the road remains closed. Shirole stated, “We are in communication with PMRDA officials and traffic police. They have initiated correspondence with the agriculture administration to obtain permission to open the internal road. It will take two more weeks for the road to be opened for commuters.”
