Nagpur: Motorists in the city must brace for a prolonged period of traffic chaos as the proposed underpass near Ajni bridge is set to take at least 7 to 8 months for completion. What began with severe congestion on Thursday is now expected to translate into months of disruption, with ripple effects already being felt across a 3-4 km radius, particularly along the heavily burdened Wardha Road. The Public Works Department (PWD) on Thursday barricaded the FCI-to-Congress Nagar stretch near Ajni Bridge to assess traffic movement before starting the groundwork for the underpass. The sudden closure led to confusion and disorder, with several motorists driving on the wrong side along the Congress Nagar-to-FCI stretch. The narrow road in front of Ajni Railway Station witnessed heavy snarls as vehicles struggled to navigate through restricted space. Commuters travelling from Ajni Bridge or FCI towards Congress Nagar were forced to take a lengthy detour up to Kriplani Square, nearly 1.5 km away, before making a U-turn and accessing Congress Nagar through a newly built bypass. The unplanned diversions resulted in long queues and frayed tempers during peak hours. On Friday, the traffic police stepped in to streamline traffic movement. Personnel were deployed near the bridge to prevent wrong-side driving. Authorities also opened a divider cut near Kriplani Chowk, enabling vehicles coming from FCI or Ajni Bridge and heading towards Congress Nagar to take a U-turn there instead of travelling all the way to Kriplani Square. While this offered temporary relief, motorists were seen using the barricaded stretch, which was opened provisionally. Officials clarified that once full-fledged groundwork begins, this temporary access will be withdrawn. The closure near Ajni Bridge triggered a cascading impact on Wardha Road, one of the city’s busiest arterial routes. Wardha Road is already grappling with reduced carriageway width due to ongoing road concretisation works. The stretch between Rahate Colony Square and Lokmat Square narrowed to a single lane on either side, compounding congestion. Until now, many motorists relied on FCI Road as an alternative to bypass chronic bottlenecks at key junctions such as Ajni Square, Kriplani Square and Rahate Colony. With it partially closed, the diverted traffic has now flooded Wardha Road, worsening gridlock during office hours and evenings. The underpass project is part of a larger Rs35 crore infrastructure plan aimed at easing traffic congestion in the Ajni area. The project also includes widening the road from Ajni Bridge to TB Ward Square into a 6-lane corridor. This widened stretch will seamlessly connect to the under-construction Ajni twin cable-stayed bridges being built by Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation.Once completed, the underpass is expected to streamline traffic flow by allowing vehicles travelling between Congress Nagar and FCI to move beneath the main carriageway. Simultaneously, traffic from Kriplani Square will be able to proceed towards Ajni Bridge over the underpass.
