PANJIM: Providing much relief to the daily commuters who head to Panjim via Margao or Vasco, one lane of the Goa Velha to Bambolim flyover was opened for traffic on New Years’ Eve, on Friday.
It may be recalled that over the last two months, there were nightmarish traffic jams on a regular basis, especially between the Cortalim junction before the Zuari bridge and Siridao, after the Goa Velha bypass.
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Due to road construction work, one lane of the Goa Velha bypass from Panjim towards Margao/Vasco had been closed, which had led to serpentine queues being formed. Similar, was the situation with the lanes at the Cortalim junction towards Verna.
With a surge in domestic tourists, the last two weeks has seen an increase in traffic intensity and locals, tourists alike were inconvenienced.
On Friday, with the opening of the flyover that had streetlights on it, there was a quick flow of traffic from Goa Velha to Bambolim. The flyover which begins in the middle of the Goa Velha bypass, connects to the concrete highway that is at close distance to the Bambolim Shrine. During Christmas eve, there was considerable traffic on this strength even late night and while traffic was moving comparatively smoothly during the day of Friday, traffic police are hopeful of ensuring smooth traffic flow on Friday night and Saturday early morning too.
Traffic proceeding towards Margao/Vasco were also allowed to use the other lane of the Goa Velha bypass which eased up the traffic on the Siridao to Goa Velha stretch and Agassaim to the Zuari Bridge stretch.
After the Cortalim junction, traffic was also allowed to move on both lanes towards Verna.
However, there are still a couple of bottlenecks such as the Cortalim junction where traffic comes from Vasco and Margao and also the Goa Velha junction where one road goes to the bypass and the other via the old Pilar side road.
Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant along with the Chief Secretary and other government officials had reviewed the traffic arrangements and status of the highway work. The Chief Minister had given instructions to the contractor to complete the pending road work that was holding back the opening of the one lane of the Goa Velha to Bambolim flyover.
