Day 1 of IIIT junction diversions forces over 10,000 IT employees onto longer routes, triggers congestion

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Traffic builds up near the Radisson Hotel as commuters are routed via Gachibowli-Miyapur road amid traffic restrictions for ongoing multi-level flyover and underpass at IIIT junction. | Photo Credit: SIDDHANT THAKUR The first day of traffic restrictions at IIIT junction for construction of a multi-level flyover and underpass saw over 10,000 IT employees adjusting to revised routes as traffic was rerouted onto the Gachibowli-Miyapur road and the Radisson Hotel junction. While police described the diversions as largely manageable, commuters reported longer travel times, congestion and confusion on one of the key gateways to Hyderabad’s IT corridor. The restrictions on DLF Road Number 1 have effectively closed one of the two access routes used by employees working in the DLF and TCS campuses, forcing all traffic onto the Radisson Hotel stretch. “Around 25% of commuters approached via DLF Road Number 1 while the rest entered through the Radisson Hotel road. With the restrictions, all employees have been asked to use the latter, increasing traffic load on that stretch,” explained Gachibowli Traffic Inspector Gona Suresh. The two IT companies together see 10,000-12,000 employees daily under the present hybrid work pattern. Under the revised traffic plan, vehicles travelling from Lingampally towards DLF Road are being diverted via Gachibowli junction and the Radisson Hotel junction before reaching DLF Road. The diversion has added 1.5 km to the journey and increased travel time by at least 10 minutes. Traffic diversions implemented by the Cyberabad traffic police from July 1. | Photo Credit: By Arrangement The restrictions come at a junction that already carries enormous traffic volumes. Official estimates indicate that 2.6 lakh to 2.8 lakh vehicles travel daily between Lingampally and Gachibowli while DLF Road itself carries around 2 lakh vehicles every day. The Radisson Hotel junction is already a major bottleneck, with three lanes of traffic from the P. Janardhan Reddy (PJR) fl