System to be operational within a week; locals hope for safer crossings
Ponda: Fulfilling a longstanding demand of Bethoda villagers, the National Highway division of the Public Words Department (PWD) has installed traffic control signals at the Kannewal–Bethoda junction on the Amigos to Bythakhol–Borim bypass road under the link road project.
Officials said that it will be commissioned in the next seven to eight days once electricity is provided.
Once operational, these will be the first traffic control signals in the entire Ponda taluka and are expected to reduce the risk for commuters crossing the road.
PWD will commission the signals during peak hours—morning, afternoon, and evening—when the Ponda–Bethoda road and the bypass experience heavy traffic.
PWD assistant engineer Anand Vagurmekar said that the signal system has been installed by a Pune-based agency at a cost of around Rs 5 lakh under the Rs 4.70 crore Amigos to Bythakhol–Borim link road development project.
Over the past two to three years, the Curti–Borim bypass road was upgraded from a state highway to a national highway and widened from a two-lane to a four-lane road. In contrast, the Ponda–Bethoda road, which intersects the bypass at Kannewal, remains largely unchanged. Despite being the main access route to the Bethoda industrial estate, the road resembles an internal village road. As a result, heavy vehicles speeding on the bypass pose a threat to those using the Ponda–Bethoda road, making the junction a hazardous zone.
The Bethoda panchayat had passed a resolution during the gram sabha and submitted it to the PWD, demanding traffic control signals at the junction.
Local panchayat member Dinesh Gaonkar said the installation of traffic control signals at the Kannewal–Bethoda junction was essential to regulate traffic flow from the bypass and the Ponda–Bethoda main road.
“With Bethoda housing an IDC, traffic on this road is heavy. Crossing the widened bypass has become risky. We are now waiting for them to be commissioned,” he said.
Gaonkar also said that villagers had demanded the creation of a circle at the junction in addition to the signals.
“Now that the PWD has installed the signals, we hope they will also convert the crossroad into a circle,” Gaonkar added.
