ORR traffic on the rise, over 1 lakh vehicles plying on daily basis

​Hyderabad: With the recent completion of Kandlakoya Junction after being in legal tangles for a long time, traffic volume on the 158-km Outer Ring Road (ORR) has increased significantly and number of vehicles plying on the eight-lane expressway is touching one-lakh mark on some days.

Road experts say ORR is of world class standard and can withstand even higher traffic volume. However, accidents are proving fatal due to travelling on high speeds on the 8-lane expressway and to overcome this, steps have to be taken to create awareness among motorists, especially from districts on safe travel, speed limit, lane discipline etc

Gachibowli-Shamshabad stretch (23 km) that was first inaugurated in 2008 when Y S Rajashekar Reddy was the chief minister in the combined Andhra Pradesh State continues to be the busiest route on ORR. IT professionals working in Cyberabad as well as passengers and cabs moving to and from Shamshabad airport use this stretch the most.

The jump in traffic volume in last six months is also attributed to linking of radial roads from districts with ORR in all four directions of the state capital. Inter-state lorries and trucks and vehicles moving from one district to another district in Telangana can avoid entering the busy main city by entering outer ring road thus saving travel time and fuel costs.

Construction of 33 radial roads was taken up by HMDA, Roads and Buildings and National Highway Authority for better connectivity between inner ring road and outer ring road and of them 17 key stretches were completed initially.

Also the traffic volume is found to be higher during weekends as city techies tend to go for outings on city outskirts for which travelling on ORR is a must. There are 19 interchanges on ORR including Kokapet, Edulanagulapally, Patancheru, Sultanpur, Dindigul/Saregudem, Shamirpet, Keesara, Ghatkesar, Taramathipet, Pedda Amberpet, Bonguluru, Raviryal, Tukkuguda, Pedda Golconda, Shamshabad, Rajendranagar, TS Police Academy junction (formerly APPA), Nanakramguda and lastly inaugurated Medchal interchange following completion of works at Kandlakoya junction (1.1 km).

Among these, traffic volume on any given day was found to be highest in Nanakramguda followed by Shamshabad, Medchal and Pedda Amberpet.

Also, 75 to 80 percent of daily traffic on ORR consists of light motor vehicles like car, jeep or van. The other twenty percent comprises light commercial vehicles, 2-axle, 3-axle vehicles upto 7 or more axles.

Road expert Dr D N Rao, promoter of Drive Logics that conducts training on safe driving methods in city pointed out that most accidents on ORR was found to be due to poor driving skills.

“ORR is a world-standard engineering effort and is no less to any expressway in Europe or Gulf countries. However, increasing number of accidents is a major cause of concern. To overcome this, efforts should be made to create awareness among motorists, especially those entering ORR from districts on safe travel, speed limit, lane discipline etc.

Most drivers put foot on accelerator and drive fast and are found to lose control of the vehicle leading to accidents. In city vehicles travel at 20 to 30 kmph speed so accidents are not fatal but it is not the case on ORR where vehicles zoom past over 100 kmph and beyond," he said.