BHUBANESWAR: People will get respite from traffic congestion on busy Puri-Cuttack Road as chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday inaugurated city’s longest flyover connecting Saheed Nagar with Bomikhal and Rasulgarh.The 1547 meter long flyover is 7.5 wide and the longest one in the city compared to the 1003 meter VSS Nagar-Mancheswar flyover. The newly inaugurated flyover has three-way traffic. It has started from Saheed Nagar near Maharishi College of Natural Law and bifurcated towards Rasulgarh and Bomikhal after passing Bomikhal railway level crossing.It has 134-meter-long each approach roads from Rasulgarh side and Kalpana Sqaure side. It has also 89.3 meter long approach road from Saheed Nagar side. “Now people going towards Rasulgarh or Kalpana will not wait at the railway level crossing. Even people from other sides can come to Saheed Nagar side without any rail or road traffic. The both side service roads have been widened and made double lane road to facilitate the local people for easy movement,” said an executive engineer of the project.Work of the project was started on March 19, 2012. A total of Rs 44.1 crore has been spent for the flyover. The flyover was first planned from Saheed Nagar to Rasulgarh side, but later the design was changed and it became three-way traffic.This over bridge faced several hurdles including land acquisition delay in Saheed Nagar area and accidents during construction. Two major accidents including a bridge collapse rocked the city and delayed the flyover work.The first tragic accident had taken place on September 10, 2017. A businessman Satyabrat Patnaik, 40, from city’s Jharpada area was killed and around 15 others got injured after a small portion of an under construction flyover bridge collapsed. It had created hue and cry in the city for the recklessness of the contractor.The second accident had occurred on May 3, 2018. A labourer was killed and another injured seriously after a set of iron bars fell on them while preparing a retaining wall. The incident happened in front of Santoshi Maa temple at Bomikhal only 100 metres away from the earlier bridge collapse site.“After the accidents, the contractor was blacklisted. Works department took the challenge and completed the project thereafter. It is the longest flyover in the city,” said Nalini Kant Pradhan, secretary of the works department.

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