Median opened, service lane pressed into use as GHMC issues notices for Gachibowli road widening

Gachibowli road widening proposal gains some movement as GHMC issued notices to buildings in proposed stretch to be widened, and police implement temporary traffic measures to alleviate congestion.

Every evening between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., a section of the median on the Old Mumbai Highway in Gachibowli is temporarily opened up. Traffic personnel manually create a 15–20-foot gap, allowing vehicles to spill into part of the opposite carriageway and form an additional outbound lane towards the Gachibowli flyover.

The arrangement is not part of any permanent design. It is a daily improvisation to prevent gridlock on a one-kilometre stretch between the Cyberabad Police Commissioner’s office and the Maulana Azad National Urdu University, one of the most critical choke points leading to Cyberabad’s IT corridor.

The stretch is used by an estimated 6-7 lakh vehicles in just one direction on an average working day. By evening peak hour, traffic from NCB Junction, which connects Raidurgam, Telecom Nagar, the Durgam Cheruvu Cable Bridge and multiple IT parks, converges here before moving towards the Gachibowli flyover and multiple residential clusters including Financial District, Nallagandla and beyond.

An additional lane has been provided for vehicles on the Old Mumbai Highway to prevent gridlock on the narrow stretch between the Cyberabad Police Commissioner’s office and the Maulana Azad National Urdu University | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

On the opposite side, during morning hours, police divert vehicles through a service lane lined with eateries, effectively converting it into an additional carriageway to handle heavy inflow from the flyover. Raidurgam Traffic Inspector, Pavan Mayasa said police are also considering relocating a bus shelter further back to prevent bottlenecks caused by buses halting on the main road.

“These are temporary measures to keep traffic moving. Without them, congestion would extend up to Biodiversity junction,” a Traffic police official said.