Ahmedabad: Within hours of the Makarba railway overbridge opening on Thursday, traffic snarls developed near Corporate Road, and on Friday, traffic police introduced diversions that forced motorists to take U-turns at the end of long stretches. Those travelling on Corporate Road from Prahladnagar Garden Circle were particularly affected.On Friday, AMC said it had implemented a ‘capsule approach’ at the bridge landing to organise vehicular movement and improve safety. The civic body said the arrangement would streamline traffic descending from the bridge and moving towards the main road.The railway crossing under the bridge was closed on Friday evening. For commuters who use the stretch daily, the concern is the additional distance and time involved in commuting.Under the new traffic layout, vehicles travelling from Corporate Road towards Prahladnagar have to turn left and take a U-turn further ahead. Those travelling from Prahladnagar towards Corporate Road face a similar diversion beneath the bridge.Hemant Pandya, a Makarba resident, said, “The overbridge and the spillover traffic have become a pain for residents.”He said, “We cannot take Prahladnagar and Auda Housing Society service roads because the crossing is closed. So we take a long detour towards Corporate Road or Riviera Blues Society Road, both of which are congested because of the new arrangement.”Pandya added, “If we take the bridge from Corporate Road, the detour is long.”Residents say the junction was congestion-prone before the bridge opened. Traffic from Juhapura, Sarkhej, Prahladnagar, Corporate Road, and SG Highway converges around the stretch. The bridge has now added another stream of vehicles to the same network.Falguni Patel, another Makarba resident, said, “The question is whether the junction’s traffic movement was adequately factored into the project before the bridge became operational.”Patel said, “Because people are forced to take longer U-turns or detours, wrong-side driving, signal violations, and vehicles entering congested junctions have become problems.”Construction of the Rs 98.6-crore project began in Sept 2022. Residents say they have experienced changing traffic patterns around the site throughout the construction.
