Motorists Enraged Over Barricaded U-Turns on Road No. 12

Hyderabad:Traffic chaos has gripped Road No. 12 in Banjara Hills after traffic police barricaded several U-turns along the busy stretch, leaving motorists fuming and commuters stranded in long queues. What used to be a relatively smooth drive has now turned into a daily test of patience, especially during peak hours.

At present, only two U-turns have been kept open. As a result, vehicles are piling up at these points, causing severe bottlenecks. The situation becomes worse in the mornings and evenings when office-goers, school buses and RTC buses crowd the road.

“I have to wait nearly 20 minutes just to cross a short stretch,” said Ramesh Kumar, a regular commuter. “Cars are lining up to take the U-turn, and since it’s on an uphill road, vehicles struggle to move. In this heat, it’s exhausting.”

Road No. 12 has several hospitals and treatment centres, and locals said that the traffic congestion is not just inconvenient, but also dangerous. The U-turn ahead of Renova Hospital and TX Hospital on Road No. 12 has been closed, forcing vehicles, including ambulances and visitors, to travel further down the road all the way to a smaller U-turn in front of a graveyard near Sri Ram Nagar Colony, and return through the already congested turning points.

“There are ambulances passing through every few minutes. When traffic is stuck like this, where will an ambulance go? Even turning becomes a challenge,” said Shabana Begum, a resident.

Locals also raised concerns about how the U-turns, which have been closed, had enough road space which allowed cars and heavy vehicles to take turns easily, but the currently open U-turns do not have adequate space and are creating bottleneck traffic.

The U-turn in front of Asian Vascular Hospitals on Road No. 12 is a bigger and wider turn, allowing cars and semi-heavy vehicles to easily take turns. But that has been closed up by authorities. Instead, the smaller, more congested U-turn in front of the graveyard on Road No. 12 has been kept open.

Junaid, who works at a nearby store, pointed to the narrow U-turn near the graveyard and said, “It’s simply not wide enough. Cars have to slow down too much or even reverse to complete the turn. That’s when traffic behind them comes to a standstill. It has become a literal choke point.”

For instance, if a commuter coming from the Minister Quarters area has to go to Renova hospitals, they have to stay in traffic at the smaller U-turn in front of the graveyard, or have to go all the way down towards Virinchi Hospital and take a U-turn.

The presence of school buses during morning and evening hours adds to the already increasing chaos, and RTC buses struggle to manoeuvre through the narrowed turning points. “Buses also have to come to a stop on this road now, and those heavy vehicles stopping on such a slope are dangerous,” said Surender, a shopkeeper near the stretch.

Traffic police officials, however, have defended the move. K. Sunil, Banjara Hills traffic SHO, said that multiple U-turns earlier caused frequent interruptions in traffic flow. “Since there were several U-turns across the stretch, vehicles were cutting across constantly. That led to more traffic, so we closed some U-turns,” he said.

Frustration among locals and commuters is rising. With hospitals, schools and public transport depending on this key road, commuters said authorities must ensure smooth traffic flow on the road, before the situation worsens further.