Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has begun installing a permanent traffic signal at the Makarba-Corporate Road junction, where a recently completed overbridge has caused repeated congestion and raised safety concerns because its exit opens directly onto a busy crossroads.
The Makarba railway overbridge, built at an estimated cost of ₹98.60 crore, connects Makarba with Corporate Road. After the bridge was opened on 24 September, commuters and authorities reported problems at the point where the bridge ends. Vehicles descending from the bridge were not able to merge smoothly with traffic at the junction, creating conflicting movements, the possibility of accidents and frequent traffic jams.
As an immediate response, the traffic police and the AMC introduced a temporary barricading arrangement known as the ‘capsule system’. The system was intended to regulate vehicle movement near the bridge end, but it required motorists travelling towards nearby residential societies and corporate offices to take longer routes. According to the report, this increased travel time and fuel consumption for local users.
The Western Traffic Department subsequently wrote to the municipal corporation seeking an immediate solution. Deputy Commissioner of Police Bhavna Patel recommended the installation of traffic signals at the Makarba railway overbridge and Corporate Road junction. The recommendation followed continuing difficulties in managing vehicle flows through the temporary arrangement.
Dinesh Gurav, deputy municipal commissioner, said the corporation began installing the signal soon after receiving the police department’s written request. Officials from the AMC’s light department have started work on the signal poles and wiring, based on the traffic police proposal. The corporation said the system would be made operational shortly.
Once the signal becomes functional, the temporary barricades currently being used for traffic control will be removed. The junction will then be managed through a regular signal cycle intended to separate movements from the four approaches and reduce conflicts between vehicles leaving the bridge and traffic already using Corporate Road.
The intervention also follows questions about the bridge’s design. The AMC issued a show-cause notice to the consultant company responsible for preparing the project design, seeking an explanation for the lack of sufficient space for vehicle movement at the bridge end and the alleged failure to account for basic traffic margins.
The episode highlights the operational consequences of opening an urban transport structure without adequate integration with the junction below it. Although the bridge itself was intended to improve connectivity between Makarba and Corporate Road, its direct connection to a busy four-way intersection created a new traffic-management problem at the point where elevated movement returned to the surface road network.
The AMC and traffic police are now relying on the permanent signal installation as the immediate corrective measure. The next milestone is the commissioning of the signal system, after which the barricades will be removed and traffic movement at the junction will be regulated through the new signal cycle.
