Kothaguda flyover: A masterpiece with faulty road design

Hyderabad: The newly inaugurated bi-directional Kothaguda flyover has been making driving dangerous on the flyover as it lacks road markings and signs, leaving commuters confused on where to take a turn and where the split begins. The 2.2 km long flyover has deep curves and two splits, of which one split starts suddenly after a sharp curve, forcing drivers to apply sudden breaks to avoid accidents.

Hence, to provide safe and smooth travel, road experts urged the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and Traffic Police to install road markings and sign boards as the drivers must know well in advance on which lane to choose and ensure any untoward incident.

The flyover which aims to ease traffic between Kothaguda and Kondapur has now turned out to be a nightmare for its commuters. It has been witnessed that drivers at flyover are confused to choose the lane for their destination, as it has deep curves and a sudden split following the blind curve. Regular commuters on the stretch now using the flyover said that there are confused onto when the split begins and ends.

Vinay Kumar, a regular commuter said that due to no markings and sign boards on the flyover, we commuters are confused as to when the split begins and where is a curve. "As there is no indication on which stretch the split road leads to, I got confused and headed towards the Kondapur stretch and made a U-turn for reaching Hitech city," he added.

Experts say that as the curves on the flyover are very sharp, it required proper signage which is visible from a substantial distance so that the drivers are warned to reduce their speed for taking a split over. As part of the traffic control plan, road markings form the traffic surface and provide visual guidance for road users.

The 'Indian hodophiles driving diaries' who has been promoting road safety across the country pointed out that road markings are needed on the newly opened Kothaguda flyover. "The flyover splits after a deep curve, which raises a question on driver's safety. Road markings and signs will help in choosing the correct lane for drivers on flyover, as last minute decisions may lead to accidents," stated the expert.

"Considering the sharp curve, the traffic channeling using the marking/signage should be done even before the curve. Traffic channeling should never be done on curves," tweeted a road safety guy.

Citizens also took the matter on social media by tagging the concerned departments and urged them for installing markings and sign boards. "Unless the drivers know exactly where to go, it is possible that one might see lost drivers and vehicles stopping a few metres before after the lane split point and either take the reverse or U turn," tweeted Ara Gundu.

Avishar Dutta tweeted "A masterpiece in bad road design. 3-lanes to 4-lanes then a sudden split in 2-lanes each, with one of them being a sharp turn."

"It seems to be a dangerous combination of curve and immediate split over," tweeted Sai Koushik.