Guwahati’s Maharaja Prithu Flyover was built to ease traffic, but congestion has shifted to its roundabout choke point
Every city dreams of a solution to its traffic problem. For a rapidly expanding city like Guwahati, where thousands of vehicles hit the roads every day, traffic congestion has become an unavoidable part of life. Office-goers, students, business owners, and daily commuters often find themselves spending more time on the road than they would like. As a result, every major infrastructure project is met with hope the hope that travel will become easier, journeys shorter, and daily commutes less stressful.
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It was this hope that surrounded the inauguration of the Maharaja Prithu Flyover on March 10.
Built as a landmark achievement in Assam's infrastructure development, the flyover was envisioned as a long-term solution to congestion along one of Guwahati's busiest corridors. Connecting Dighalipukhuri to Noonmati, the elevated road stretches approximately 4.2 kilometres and stands on 129 pillars. With a width of nearly 15 metres, it became the longest flyover in Assam and was expected to significantly improve connectivity between the central and eastern parts of the city.
The project was inaugurated by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in the presence of senior government officials and representatives from the Public Works Department (PWD). At the time, the flyover symbolised not just a new road but a promise of smoother travel for thousands of residents.
However, just a few months after its inauguration, a different conversation has begun to emerge.
While the flyover itself allows vehicles to move swiftly across a significant stretch of the city, many commuters argue that traffic congestion has not disappeared. Instead, they believe the problem has simply shifted to another location, particularly the roundabout section connected to the flyover.
What was intended to ease traffic is now becoming a point of concern for many daily travellers.
Several motorists and residents have reported long waiting times and recurring traffic snarls at the roundabout. During peak hours, vehicles can often be seen lining up for considerable distances, creating frustration among commuters who had expected faster travel after the flyover's completion.
The issue becomes especially evident during morning and evening rush hours when traffic volume is at its highest. For daily commuters, the impact extends beyond inconvenience. It is gradually changing the way they plan their day.
One regular commuter who spoke with GPlus said that she now has to leave her home much earlier than she did before.
"I leave almost half an hour earlier now because I know there will be traffic," she said.
While thirty minutes may not sound like a significant amount of time, for people navigating the same route every day, those extra minutes add up quickly.
The commuter, who frequently uses the road to drop her daughter to tuition classes, explained how the traffic situation has affected her routine. "I travel through this road almost every day to drop my daughter. No matter how early we leave home, we still end up getting delayed. After dropping her, I don't return home because if I have to use the same road again to pick her up, I will get stuck in traffic once more and reach late. So I usually stay nearby and wait."
Her experience is not unique. Many commuters say that what was once a predictable journey has become increasingly uncertain. Travel plans now revolve around traffic conditions rather than distance. Residents who expected the flyover to reduce travel time claim they are instead adjusting their schedules to accommodate delays.
Apart from the sheer volume of vehicles, commuters also point towards signal timings at the roundabout as a major factor contributing to congestion.
Another commuter told GPlus that the duration of the red signal appears disproportionately long compared to the green phase, causing vehicles to accumulate rapidly.
One commuter said the waiting time at traffic lights often exceeds 100 seconds during busy hours.
"The rush during the morning hours during 9-10 AM and evening around 10 PM is extremely high. Sometimes the signal remains red for 106 or 107 seconds, while it opens only for a short period. By the time vehicles begin moving, another long queue has already formed."
As a result, motorists frequently find themselves waiting through multiple signal cycles before being able to cross the junction.
The congestion has reportedly become severe enough to affect emergency services as well.
Residents claim that ambulances have occasionally been seen caught in the traffic queue, raising concerns about how delays could impact emergency response times.
For many road users, such incidents underline the need for immediate attention to traffic management in the area.
Traffic authorities, meanwhile, acknowledge that the junction experiences significant pressure during peak hours.
Speaking with GPlus, an on-duty police official said that traffic volume increases considerably around 10 AM and again from 5 PM to 11 PM.
According to the official, despite the installation of traffic signals, manual intervention remains necessary to regulate traffic flow.
"Despite the installation of traffic signals, we still have to manually control traffic during peak hours because of the heavy vehicle movement," the official said.
The statement highlights the scale of the challenge. While traffic signals were expected to streamline vehicle movement, the current volume of traffic appears to require additional human supervision to prevent complete gridlock.
However, authorities believe that infrastructure alone is not responsible for the congestion.
The Sub-Inspector of Chandmari Police Station pointed out that driver behaviour also contributes significantly to the problem.
According to him, many motorists fail to follow lane discipline while approaching the roundabout. Vehicles frequently switch lanes abruptly or attempt to enter from incorrect lanes, creating confusion and slowing down the movement of traffic.
"The public often does not use the correct lane while travelling, which creates congestion," he said.
Beyond commuter behaviour, the officer also identified a possible structural concern.
He suggested that the central construction or median within the roundabout occupies a substantial amount of space and may be restricting traffic flow.
"If the middle construction is narrowed down, the traffic issue may reduce considerably," he added.
His remarks indicate that the congestion could be the result of multiple factors working together, high traffic volume, signal timing issues, lane indiscipline, and physical design constraints.
Urban planners often note that flyovers are not standalone solutions to traffic congestion. While they help vehicles bypass certain intersections and reduce travel time along specific stretches, their effectiveness depends largely on how connected junctions and adjoining roads are managed.
In many cases, a flyover can move traffic faster from one point only to create a bottleneck at another if the surrounding infrastructure is unable to accommodate the increased flow.
For commuters using the Maharaja Prithu Flyover, this appears to be the central concern. The elevated corridor itself may be functioning as intended, but the roundabout below has emerged as a critical choke point where traffic accumulates and slows.
Residents are now urging authorities to revisit the traffic management strategy at the junction. Suggestions range from reviewing signal timings and improving lane discipline to redesigning sections of the roundabout and implementing engineering modifications that could improve traffic flow.
The Maharaja Prithu Flyover remains one of Assam's most ambitious urban infrastructure projects and a symbol of the city's ongoing development. Yet for the thousands of commuters who use the route every day, success will ultimately be measured not by the length of the structure or the number of pillars that support it, but by whether it actually makes their journey easier.
As Guwahati continues to grow and traffic volumes continue to rise, the debate surrounding the flyover raises a larger question about urban mobility and planning. Has the city merely encountered a temporary adjustment phase that will improve over time, or does the situation point towards the need for further intervention?
For now, commuters continue to wait at the signals, watching vehicles inch forward and hoping that the promise of smoother travel is still somewhere ahead on the road.