Written by Soham Shah, Sushant Kulkarni and Swasti Jain
As traffic on the main arteries of Pune was diverted for the prologue of Pune Grand Tour 2026, the roads on which the vehicles were diverted witnessed traffic jams on Sunday afternoon. Fergusson College Road, Jangli Maharaj Road and sections of University Road were closed to vehicular traffic from noon to 6 pm for the cycle race.
However, authorities said the smaller-than-usual movement of vehicles helped avoid major traffic jams.
“Road closures and diversions were communicated well in advance and schools and colleges were closed. This resulted in significantly fewer vehicles on the roads. However, the roads on which traffic was diverted experienced traffic jams in the afternoon. About 1,500 police officers were on the roads for the Prologue stage. This helped a lot in crowd control and traffic management,” a senior officer said.
However, some travelers were caught off guard.
Dhanushree, who had traveled from Undri to shop on FC Road in the evening, had to return empty-handed after his autorickshaw was stopped near Lakdi Pul. After speaking with police officers at the scene, he told The indian express“I didn’t know the road was closed. Now I just have to go back. Shopping plans were cancelled, it was a waste.”
Dwijayu Wankhede, a 25-year-old professional, said: “I had to attend an important seminar, but I couldn’t book an Ola or Uber because they kept cancelling. I had to walk a long distance.”
Harshal Rathod, 19, echoed similar concerns. “Traffic was diverted to internal roads, causing a huge traffic jam. The one-way traffic created problems and I could not find a place to park my vehicle,” he said.
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Dattatray Koli, a resident of Bavdhan who was traveling to Shivajinagar via Spicer College Road and Khadki, said the traffic was slow but moving.
“There was some traffic slowdown on Spicer College Road and also at Khadki. However, traffic was moving. Apart from traffic slowdown, distance was also an issue. But I started early because traffic changes were communicated in advance,” he said.
However, not all travelers viewed the event negatively.
Anagha Joshi, 73, said: “It is really a big event for India. As far as the road closure is concerned, we were informed about it beforehand, so we came prepared.”
Amresh Shinde, a private employee who was on his way to submit audit reports to a chartered accountant’s office on FC Road, was also diverted at Lakdi Pul. However, he said: “Although I have to be there quickly, we must support the government. The collector has officially declared that these areas will be closed. This kind of thing does not happen every day.”
Swasti Jain is an intern at The Indian Express
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