[S_U_N]

Originally Posted by shipnil

Has anyone visited Sinhagad recently? How is the road condition? I think it was being closed during certain days.

I had visited Sinhagad on 24th August.

The road from Khed towards Sinhagad is horrible.
The road from Khadakvasla towards Sinhagad is the one you should take. It is OK (nothing great).

[noopster]

This just in...

Those coming from Bavdhan, the right turn on the bypass highway (towards Balewadi/Hinjewadi) at HEMRL is now closed. Solid barriers in place where the gap in the median used to be. No warning, no indication. Please take either Chandani Chowk or Pashan exit to the highway if Northbound.

That particular road has a weak bridge and no amount of signage and roadblocks could stop those mammoth trucks and buses from taking it, so I suppose this is a last resort. Classic case of those not at fault being penalized for the sins of others. Though it was a dangerous turn to take in peak traffic, early mornings used to be a breeze. Oh well...!

[swapnilup]

Originally Posted by noopster

This just in...
Please take either Chandani Chowk or Pashan exit to the highway if Northbound.

I should checked the posts in the morning. I took the left towards Chandani Chowk and got stuck in a jam near the flyover construction site. Guess its Pashan Sus Road from tomorrow. :(

[sschivate]

Originally Posted by noopster

Though it was a dangerous turn to take in peak traffic, early mornings used to be a breeze. Oh well...!

With the highway getting widened to 6 lanes, an open (unmanaged) break in the median would be always dangerous, so I am happy about this step. However, they should have opened the underpass that is currently exclusive for HEMRL.

With the perennial construction activity (pun intended!) on the highway, more exit and merge options would be helpful. If the highway gets choked, at least you can take the earlier exit/next merge.

[jagzrk]

Originally Posted by noopster

This just in...

Those coming from Bavdhan, the right turn on the bypass highway (towards Balewadi/Hinjewadi) at HEMRL is now closed. Solid barriers in place where the gap in the median used to be. No warning, no indication. Please take either Chandani Chowk or Pashan exit to the highway if Northbound.

I work nearby and used to take this route. But, there's also an alternative route in addition to Chandani Chowk / Pashan Exit. You can go in to the lane near Axis Bank (right turn when going towards Chandni Chowk) where you will find a lot of service centers (Pandit, DSK, Hyundai) and you can join in to the highway right in front of Crystal Honda.

Vehicles with low ground clearance be advised through, as you will have to slow down to crawling speed to clear those speed breakers without scraping.

[athanedar]

Originally Posted by jagzrk

I work nearby and used to take this route. But, there's also an alternative route in addition to Chandani Chowk / Pashan Exit. You can go in to the lane near Axis Bank (right turn when going towards Chandni Chowk) where you will find a lot of service centers (Pandit, DSK, Hyundai) and you can join in to the highway right in front of Crystal Honda.

Vehicles with low ground clearance be advised through, as you will have to slow down to crawling speed to clear those speed breakers without scraping.

Yes I have been taking this route but even while going slowly the array of speedbreakers are actually backbreaking (car and self)

The other way is to go down the chandani chowk, take u turn and join highway. But that is a good detour of 3 kms extra.

Hard choices

[luvDriving]

Why do we have traffic cops in Pune ? What is their purpose being on the road ? Why not just have some civilians dressed as traffic cops stand at the signals with significantly less pay ?

Today while coming to office (Katraj - Lullanagar - Magarpatta route) at every chowk I saw these traffic "police" guys standing and staring into nothingness.

Chowk one : People crossing while the signal for the crossing traffic was green and thus causing traffic jams and arguments. All this right in front of the traffic cop (cop mind you not the warden) who was just enjoying the scene.

Chowk two : Two wheeler riders non nonchalantly ignoring traffic signals causing the traffic to stumble and the cops ignoring all this.

Chowk three : A cop asks a two wheeler rider for his licence and while they are bickering, the signal turns green. The traffic behind is piling up, people are frantically turning this way and that but the cop does not make any effort to ask the biker to pull to the side and then negotiate.

These and other instances make me laugh nowadays but the also point out the harsh reality that absolutely nothing can be expected out of these guys because apparently no one bothered to explain to them that Hey people, you are not merely civilians in uniform, you have a major responsibility.

Like the one cop I saw today - very elderly cop who could barely move about and his only task seemed to be to write up challans on the bike and he was having trouble with that too since he could not bend over easily.

--- end of rant. Thanks for reading

[noopster]

Originally Posted by jagzrk

I work nearby and used to take this route. But, there's also an alternative route in addition to Chandani Chowk / Pashan Exit. You can go in to the lane near Axis Bank (right turn when going towards Chandni Chowk) where you will find a lot of service centers (Pandit, DSK, Hyundai) and you can join in to the highway right in front of Crystal Honda.

Hmmm...but can you turn right (Northbound) on that road? There is some underpass under construction which looks almost complete but it isn't open yet, I thought. Am sticking to the Pashan-Sus route these days. Takes more time but is safe at least.

Originally Posted by luvDriving

Why do we have traffic cops in Pune ? What is their purpose being on the road ? Why not just have some civilians dressed as traffic cops stand at the signals with significantly less pay ?

Quite unfair. These are the same guys who stand directing traffic in pouring rain wearing nothing but a flimsy raincoat. Even in the best of weather conditions , what kind of job is it to stand amidst vehicles belching smoke and fumes, their owners hellbent on getting where they want to by hook or crook, damn the rest of the world. My colleague said he saw a local slap a cop yesterday for daring to stop him for a sunfilm violation.

Agreed that in a lot of cases they are not as effective as they should be and a lot of them are probably corrupt and venal but there are a significant number who are just doing a difficult job to the best of their ability and, as such, deserve our respect.

[jagzrk]

Originally Posted by noopster

Hmmm...but can you turn right (Northbound) on that road? There is some underpass under construction which looks almost complete but it isn't open yet, I thought.

Yeah, you can turn left pretty easily but for turning right you would have to cross through the oncoming traffic just as you had to near the HEMRL exit. The only plus is, the traffic is quite slow considering the construction as well as the cratered road. Many people do use that route as its much shorter and saves lot of time.

There's no underpass as of now and you have to cross through the construction area in the huge median to turn right. The reason why I mentioned ground clearance. My City ZX clears that though without scraping at slow speed.

[luvDriving]

Originally Posted by noopster

Quite unfair.

I am not blaming the cops entirely nor am I saying that the entire force is corrupt. In fact corruption was not the topic of my rant.

I do appreciate the cops standing in the sun / wind / rain with no protection day in and day out. Add to this the apathy shown by the "aam janta" in not showing any respect by disregarding the cops entirely.

But there was a time not many years ago when a single cop manning a junction meant that people will think ten times before they dared to proceed against the traffic light. Nowadays there are four cops manning the junction with people disregarding the signals and the cops standing there not bothering to even blow into the whistle which would stop those following the first law breaker.

This attitude keeps sending the wrong signal that do as you please, no one will catch your collar. Leave alone the fact that there are many young kids in impressionable ages watching all this.

What I meant was - why not do the minimal duty expected of you ? I certainly do not expect you to catch hold of each and every law breaker or prevent each and every accident or stand in the open for > 12 hours each day.

Make an example of 2-3 cases which will send a strong message that you mean business. Drill down the message that driving a vehicle is as much a responsibility as it is a privilege and a right.

All said and done, I did not mean any disrespect towards either the occupation or those doing it.

[luvDriving]

This is not quite a rant as such but a genuine question.

At many traffic junctions here in Pune (e.g. SP college or Lakdi pul signals) I see that traffic coming from two opposing sides is allowed to merge and the signals specifically are designed for such a thing to happen.

E.g. traffic coming from SP college side and that from SP Biryani side is forced to merge onto Tilak Road going towards Alaka Cinema.

This causes snarls because each driver wants to get ahead of the other oncoming car / rickshaw / two wheeler.

Is this a correct way of planning traffic merging or is it just another of the overlooked mistakes ?

[jagzrk]

Just got this in Pune news:

http://www.punemirror.in/pune/civic/...w/44794153.cms

Hinjewadi roads are already full of traffic and what is the point of having a dedicated bus lane when it clearly failed in rest of the parts of Pune City. This will only further increase the woes of people using their private vehicles. Also, it is clearly written the dedicated lane for 250-300 buses compared to 2.25 lac private vehicles which translates to 0.1% of the vehicle population using a dedicated lane. How does that even make sense?

Please dont ask us unfortunate Punekars to use public transport more if you don't live in Pune. I wish I could but any Punekar can confirm the state of public transport here in Pune. Given a route and availability of buses I would love to. Most of the people have to take out their vehicles because they really dont have a choice.

Personally, I think separate bus lane for Hinjewadi is pre-posterous unless they are actually creating (read constructing) separate lane for that without already disturbing existing lanes which are chock-a-block traffic.

@luvDriving
The way I see it, considering the location is in old city which already has many confusing detours, no-entries, weird rules, they must have spared that one junction. But, since a signal there is in place, I wonder how it can allow that. Maybe this happens only at specific times when there is outgoing traffic from SP college or evenings and its just fine rest of the day. I did not particularly face any issue here at the junction except for the slow moving traffic when there are buses, heavy vehicles.

[ajay_satpute]

Gosh !

Today morning while taking the left turn from Sancheti slope towards Wakdewadi, I almost banged onto the "NEW" divider that has been put up. This divider is for vehicles going on to the Sangamwadi bridge and other side is for going straight towards Wakdewadi.

I had the PMPML bus in front of me, so really could not spot the beginning of the divider. Please take care while negotiating this turn during peak hours. It almost comes as a surprise to many.

[noopster]

Five car pileup near Pashan Sus exit of bypass highway this morning. No idea why the first car stopped so suddenly. I was just a little behind this bunch.

[jagzrk]

Originally Posted by noopster

Five car pileup near Pashan Sus exit of bypass highway this morning. No idea why the first car stopped so suddenly. I was just a little behind this bunch.

Call me crazy, but I kind of got some satisfaction out of the pictures saying they deserved it. (At-least the first one who braked didn't)

The by-pass being my daily route, it's rare to have a vehicle at the back which is "not" tail-gating. And it's worse when it gets dark with the high beams. The IRVM can be switched to night mode but ORVMs still give out an ultra bright glare.

PS. In fact, I can see the Brio in this very picture almost kissing the rear bumper