Vijayawada: Traffic congestion in Vijayawada city continues to cause severe inconvenience for residents and commuters, despite several measures initiated by the police administration to tackle the situation. With the renewed momentum of Amaravati capital works, traffic jams have worsened across the city, highlighting the urgent need for a more comprehensive traffic management strategy.
Vijayawada, the second-largest city in Andhra Pradesh after Visakhapatnam, witnessed a steady rise in population and vehicular traffic since Amaravati was announced as the state capital in 2015. The situation is particularly challenging along national highway-16 (NH-16), which runs through the city, creating bottlenecks at major intersections such as Screw Bridge, Benz Circle, Mahanadu Junction, Ramavarappadu, and Enikepadu, especially during peak hours. To tackle the growing congestion, two flyovers were constructed at Benz Circle. However, they failed to offer a permanent solution.
Currently, efforts are underway to build a five-kilometre flyover from Mahanadu Junction to Nidamanuru, alongside the development of four alternate routes towards Eluru Road to ease traffic flow during construction.
Nevertheless, the return of NDA govt and the acceleration of Amaravati-related activities further strained the city’s traffic, with even minor intersections in areas like AS Rama Rao Road, Mugalrajapuram, Patamata, and Bhavanipuram facing frequent jams. Faulty traffic signals and manual regulation using microphones by police personnel are compounding the problem.
According to studies by the School of Planning and Architecture and Siddhartha Engineering College, the opening of the Vijayawada West Bypass Road could significantly reduce heavy vehicle movement into the city, thereby alleviating congestion. The town planning department of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation has also emphasised the need for better traffic junction development, noting that mere road widening has not been sufficient.
City officials have announced plans to restore malfunctioning traffic signals, deploy drone-based traffic surveys, and construct railway overbridges at critical points where level crossings frequently cause delays. The Vijayawada city traffic police department is also preparing to enforce stricter measures to ensure smoother traffic flow and prevent road accidents.
