Flyover at Agriculture College Chowk to remain shut at night for a month for repairs

Pune: The two-way flyover at Agriculture College Chowk on University Road will be closed to traffic from 9pm to 7am for the next month to facilitate repairs of its expansion joints. Vehicular movement, however, will remain open during the day, as the civic administration has decided against a full closure due to its importance on the busy stretch.The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) had initially planned the expansion joint repairs in Jan, but the work was postponed because of the cycling event. A structural audit conducted a few months ago had recommended repairs to the flyover's bearings and expansion joints.
Officials stated that the four-lane flyover, with two lanes in each direction, begins just ahead of Shimla Office Chowk and extends past the Agriculture College junction, ending near the start of Lakaki Road."Our teams are working on a traffic management plan and are exploring the possibility of keeping one lane open on each side even during nighttime hours to minimise inconvenience," a civic official said.During the closure, vehicles will be diverted to the service roads, which officials say are wide enough to handle buses and other heavy vehicles.Meanwhile, regular commuters in the Shivajinagar area have urged the administration to inspect expansion joints on other flyovers as well to prevent uncomfortable and potentially unsafe rides.Vineet Raut, who frequently travels between Sangamwadi and Deccan Gymkhana, pointed out that two flyovers at CoEP Chowk cause severe bumps and should be repaired at the earliest. "The joints of spans do not match the carriageway. Riders lose control while driving on these joints," Raut said.Suraj Modak, a regular user of the Swargate flyover, said he has experienced bumpy rides on the flyover. "It seems that the work at the joints of spans has not been done properly. The administration should take up a detailed survey of all key flyovers and river bridges pertaining to the joints and check if the metal strips are intact," Modak said.Recently, PMC carried out repair work on a flyover at Paud Phata and on Rajaram Bridge, which connects Sinhagad Road to Karvenagar.