MAPUSA
The State government has plans to close down the Peddem highway junction for pedestrian and vehicular crossing, once the pending work of service road in the area is completed.
The Peddem highway junction has become dangerous as motorists and pedestrians were facing grave difficulties while crossing the junction, making it prone to accidents.
Many accidents have taken place at the spot even as minor mishaps go unreported almost on a daily basis.
“Work on the service road at one particular stretch is held up due to some issues over land acquisition. Once that is completed, the government will take a final decision on the crucial highway junction. It’s an important junction but people’s safety comes first,” said Mapusa MLA Joshua D’Souza.
During peak hours, the condition turns chaotic at the junction with vehicles and pedestrians entering the highway from both the western and the eastern side even as vehicles zoom in the north-south direction on the national highway.
The district administration had recently erected rumblers across the highway to slow down the traffic but that has not resolved the problem entirely.
There were also plans to install traffic signals at the junction but authorities are sceptical about the proposal.
“Traffic signals do not seem to be the solution. It may help to a certain extent but it’s not a lasting solution,” D’Souza said, suggesting that closing the junction for vehicles coming from the service road to the highway was the only alternative.
The MLA informed that he has requested the government to shift a government school which is located on the other side of the highway at Peddem due to traffic issues.
“People have to have a habit of using different routes. Just 200 metres away, there is an overbridge at Karrasvadda. It’s just a matter of habit,” he said.
Incidentally, PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral during the monsoon session of the Goa Legislative Assembly had said that the Peddem highway junction will be shut down for pedestrians and traffic.
He had also referred to the overbridge at Karrasvadda which could be used to cross on the other side.
