The 11.63-kms long PVNR Elevated Expressway was inaugurated on 19th October 2009. It is the longest flyover in India. This flyover provides faster and safer access to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad, which is 30 kms away from Hyderabad.
The PVNR Elevated Expressway is beneficial and very useful to public. It is significant in the sense that it serves the main corporate business district of Banjara hills, Panjagutta, Begumpet as well as Central Hyderabad. It helps to get to the airport in real quick time.
This Rs.600 crore project was started in 2005, but was delayed due to various reasons including financial constraints over the last one year. This project got completed one-and-half years after the airport launched its commercial operations.
Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority developed this 17.2 m wide, four-lane flyover. It starts in front of Sarojini Devi Hospital at Mehdipatnam and ends at Aramghar junction on Hyderabad-Bangalore national highway NH-7. It joins an underpass, which leads to the airport. As a temporary measure for emergency U-turns, three median gaps have been provided.
This flyover provides smooth drive and in the absence of red lights and any human or animal obstruction, it is an enjoyable drive. It is said to cut the travel time to the airport by 30 to 40 minutes. The feedback from the ground is very positive from the people who used it. Barring the places where the ‘U’ turns are provided, you can speed up to 100 to 140 km/hr.
This flyover has been named after former Prime Minister late P.V. Narasimha Rao as a mark of tribute as he was a son of the soil and was the first PM of India whose mother tongue was Telugu.
The Hyderabad and Cyberabad police have prohibited entry of two-wheelers, three-wheelers, busses, all types of goods vehicles and slow-moving vehicles. Specifically, tractors, auto rickshaws, animal driven carts, cyclists, and pedestrians are restricted to ensure fast and smooth traffic on Expressway.
The full benefits of the expressway have not yet been realized due to lack of construction of ramps and bad road condition below the expressway. The construction of three sets of ramps at Upparpally, Aramgarh, and Laxminagar is still lingering thereby restricting the full use of flyover. The flyover is useful only for the long distance commuters. People who start from the Mehdipatnam have to get down at Aramgarh X roads since there are no mid-way exit points in the flyover. In addition, since the exits are not constructed, some people continue to use the road below instead of taking the flyover.
However, the traffic condition below the flyover has not eased much. The construction has caused much damage to the roads below and no road repairs were undertaken thereby adding to woes of common people.