JDA to shut over 100 median cuts after audit flags accident risks

Jaipur: A sweeping road safety drive has been launched in Jaipur after a third-party audit warned that several median openings on key corridors are creating serious risks for commuters.Acting on the findings, the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA), in coordination with the Jaipur traffic police, has started shutting down more than 100 median cuts across the city’s main thoroughfares.The first phase has already seen 50 median cuts closed on seven major roads. In the next phase, JDA plans to close an additional 55 median cuts on seven more arterial routes signalling an aggressive push to standardise medians and restrict unsafe manoeuvres.Authorities emphasised that the audit did not identify these openings as a major cause of congestion but linked them to accidents and hazardous driving behaviour. “The audit flagged these medians as unscientific. While vehicles are taking U-turns or right turns through these medians, traffic from the opposite direction is getting slow or completely stopped. To add on, these medians have contributed to a few road accidents. One major problem with these medians is that these medians promote wrong way driving,” stated a JDA official.Traffic police also pointed to how many openings were created over time for convenience rather than planning. A senior traffic department official said several medians were opened to help the ‘influentials’ accessing properties on both sides of the road, resulting in clusters of cuts within short distances.“Several small stretches across the city have these types of multiple medians. These medians do not cater to the entire traffic movement, but exclusively meant for politicians’ houses and offices, institutions or private clubs run by the influentials,” stated a traffic official.GfxHead: Sweeping changesMedians already closedBalaji Mod to Jagatpura RoBBhagwan MargShipra PathMadhyam MargVatika RoadMachwa JunctionKalwar RoadMedians to get closedTonk RoadBhawani Singh MargModel Town RoadJLN MargGandhi Path WestNew Sanganer RoadQueen’s Road