Traffic Crawls at 7 kmph on Day One of KBR Park One-Way System in Banjara Hills

Vehicular movement slowed to a crawl at just 7 kmph on Tuesday around the KBR Park corridor in Banjara Hills as a new one-way traffic system was rolled out under a pilot project. The trial run led to severe bottlenecks, turning what is usually a 10 to 15-minute commute into a 45-minute ordeal over a 5-kilometre stretch.

The one-way pilot covered the route starting from the Basavatarakam Indo American Cancer Hospital on Road No 10, Banjara Hills, and extending to the KBR Park entrance. Gridlock began almost immediately near the cancer hospital, where vehicles were brought to a complete halt for at least five minutes. From that intersection, it took another 10 minutes to reach the Jagannath Swamy temple on Road No 12, Banjara Hills, located barely a kilometre away.

A speedometer check during the journey recorded vehicles moving at an average speed of 7 kmph along the KBR Park corridor. This pace is less than half of Hyderabad's standard rush-hour speed of 16.1 kmph, according to data from the TomTom Traffic Index, which lists the citywide average time to cover a distance of 10 kilometres at 32.37 minutes.

The most congested section of the route occurred between the cancer hospital and Jubilee Hills Road No 45. Commuters spent nearly 30 minutes attempting to navigate this 3-kilometre stretch.

Traffic conditions eased temporarily along the corridor between Jubilee Hills Check Post and NTR Trust Bhavan. Movement on that stretch was comparatively lighter because a substantial portion of the vehicular volume diverted toward Jubilee Hills Road No 45 and the Durgam Cheruvu Cable Bridge.