With road-widening work along the Wadaki and Phursungi stretches of the Palkhi Marg progressing at a snail’s pace, navigating these stretches has become an everyday ordeal for thousands of locals and commuters.Now many avoid coming because of the traffic and poor road conditions. (MAHENDRA KOLHE/ HT)While road-widening is expected to improve connectivity and ensure a smoother route for the annual Wari procession in the long run, incomplete stretches of road, ongoing excavation, diversions and inadequate traffic management are all but leaving motorists stranded in long queues during peak hours. Dust pollution, damaged service roads and waterlogging during the rain are only adding to the commuters’ woes. So much so that even short journeys now take significantly longer even as the movement of school buses, ambulances and commercial vehicles has been severely hampered. According to shopkeepers along the corridor, business is suffering as customers avoid the congested route while transporters complain of rising fuel costs and delays in deliveries.For many residents, the inconvenience has become part of their daily routine. “We fully support the road-widening project because we know it is necessary but the execution has become unbearable. Every morning and evening, we spend nearly an hour stuck in traffic. Ambulances, school buses and office-goers are all caught in the same jam. The authorities must speed up the work instead of allowing it to drag endlessly,” said Jagdhish Jadhav, a resident of Phursungi.Shabana Shaikh, who runs a hardware store in Phursungi, said, “Earlier, customers from nearby villages would visit our shops regularly. Now many avoid coming because of the traffic and poor road conditions. Our sales have dropped, and even receiving supplies has become difficult. We only want the project to be completed quickly so that normalcy can return.”With the road serving as a vital link connecting the southern outskirts of Pune with Hadapsar, Saswad and neighbouring areas, citizens have urged the authorities to deploy additional manpower, improve traffic management and ensure round-the-clock work on critical stretches to minimise inconvenience.A senior National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) official said that the work is progressing in phases and that temporary inconvenience is unavoidable over the course of such a large infrastructure project. “The Palkhi Marg widening project is being executed on priority, and every effort is being made to complete the remaining stretches at the earliest. Certain delays have occurred due to utility shifting, land-related issues and the monsoon, but additional resources are being deployed wherever required. We appeal to citizens to cooperate during this period, as the completed project will significantly improve traffic flow and road safety for the region,” the official said.