Friday was a day of surprise for those motoring on Wardha Road as they noticed the double decker has been opened for traffic. Earlier, in the day sans any hullabaloo the multi-layered transport system was dedicated to Nagpurians in a simple ceremony held at Airport South Metro station auditorium. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari was the chief guest, Anil Deshmukh, State Home Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, Leader of Opposition, were prominently present.

 

Along with the fly-over, the Railway Overbridge (RoB) and Railway Underbridge (RuB) at Manish Nagar were also opened for citizens. “It was virtually a Diwali gift as the three project in together is going to provide great relief from traffic snarls,” said the citizens who made it a point to use the fly-over for commuting.

 

The fly-over stretches over 3.14 km and cost Rs 365 crore and was built by Maha Metro on behalf of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). This is second such transport system in country, with Jaipur too boasting of similar arrangement wherein Metro viaduct tops over the fly-over. On day one during the day time there was heavy movement amidst excitement and curiosity but by evening the fly-over appeared quite deserted.

 

More relief for citizens is in terms of RoB and RuB at Manish Nagar as same ensures seamless connectivity for localities separated by Mumbai-Howrah line. These two projects cost Rs 106 crore and would provide alternative to existing Somalwada railway crossing. While RoB stretches over 885 metres and has two lanes and would cater to traffic coming from Manish Nagar and moving towards Sonegaon Airport. People can take a U-turn at Sonegaon Airport turning and head back for fly-over that stretches till Ajni Square. A salient of RoB is the Bowstring girder, the first such arrangement on RoB in the country and it weighs 360 tonnes. There is also provision of 1.5 metres footpath on either side of the RoB.

 

The RuB to is having two lanes but as of now traffic movement is allowed only one side from Ujjwal Nagar to Manish Nagar. Since the width inside the tunnel having length of 650 meter of which 60 meters portion is below the railway track. The RuB has width of 6.5 meters and height of 45 metres.