MARGAO: As the daily traffic jams at the two traffic signals at Verna continue to frustrate commuters that frequent the Margao-Panjim highway regularly, the government is looking at pushing ahead with its plans for constructing a flyover at this location, to ease the traffic congestion.
Acknowledging the woes faced by commuters, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant confirmed that the government has started the process related to the flyover construction, which he believed would offer a permanent solution. The CM stated that the State government has already raised this issue with the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and that he is confident MoRTH Minister Nitin Gadkari would support this project, as he has done so with other highway projects in Goa so far.
It may be recalled that ever since the phase-I of the new Zuari bridge became operational, which eased the congestion that was previously seen in Agasaim and Cortalim, long queues started to form at the two traffic signals at Verna, creating a bottleneck there. While the time it takes to reach Panjim from Margao has been cut by half due to the new Zuari bridge, commuters have to move at a snail’s pace at these two Verna traffic signals during peak hours. There have already been calls for rationalising the timings of the traffic signals.
PWD officials stated that the government has been in the process of addressing this issue with the flyover that has been planned from the Kesarval junction to the Verna junction. They conceded that the present traffic jam is because the road at Verna is already four-laned, and due to the traffic signal at Kersarval junction, all the vehicles converge there, and there is a similar issue at the other traffic signal located at the entrance of the Verna Industrial Estate.
Pointing to the traffic flowing from Panjim to Margao, they referred to the temporary measures that were put in place until the flyover is built – the slipway road for vehicles to enter the Verna industrial estate on the left-hand side and the slipway road to go from Kesarval circle toward BITS Pilani on the right-hand side.
