Pune highways, toll plazas choke with traffic due to rain and ongoing roadwork

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Severe traffic congestion plagued city roads and surrounding highways on Sunday as heavy rains and ongoing road work created long queues at toll plazas and major thoroughfares. Commuters faced slow-moving traffic at toll nakas, particularly at Khed Shivapur and Urse, along the Pune-Mumbai Expressway, especially in the ghat section.According to Vikrant Deshmukh, Superintendent of Police for the Highway Safety Patrol (HSP) in the Pune division, the combination of weekend traffic and ongoing construction contributed significantly to the traffic snarls.“As it’s a weekend, we are witnessing a substantial increase in vehicles heading towards Mumbai, Satara, and Lonavla.

Continuous rainfall in the ghat section of the Pune-Mumbai Expressway has made driving conditions challenging, leading to considerable slowdowns. We have deployed additional police personnel along key stretches to manage the situation and facilitate smoother traffic flow,” Deshmukh explained.He also noted that construction work near Varve village on the Satara highway is exacerbating the issue. “A three-lane highway is narrowing down to a single or double lane in this area due to ongoing road development work. This has created a bottleneck, and we’re coordinating with construction agencies to minimize inconvenience for commuters,” he added.Frustration among commuters stuck in the gridlock was evident, with many expressing dissatisfaction over the lack of timely updates and insufficient traffic diversion measures.

Poonam Jadhav, a citizen traveling to Satara with her family, shared her experience, saying, “We started early to avoid the rush but ended up spending over an hour just trying to get past the Khed Shivapur toll. There were no clear signs or officials directing traffic for diversions. It’s incredibly exhausting, especially with children in the car.”Another commuter, Rajesh Kalanti, who was on his way to Mumbai for a business meeting, echoed the sentiment. “The ghat section is crawling along. With the rain reducing visibility, people are still attempting to overtake, which is quite dangerous. Authorities need to deploy more highway patrols and better regulate the flow during weekends like this.”With the monsoon season setting in, traffic officials have cautioned that more frequent delays can be expected in the coming weeks.