Just over a kilometre-long stretch between Lemon Tree Premier and Trident in Cyberabad’s Madhapur is testing the patience of thousands every day. With peak-hour speeds dipping to as low as 10 kmph and waiting times stretching up to 30 minutes, this portion of the Hitec City main road has become a notorious bottleneck in one of Hyderabad’s busiest corridors.
For nearly five lakh employees commuting to and from tech parks like Raheja Mindspace, Knowledge City, and CapitaLand among others, this corridor, located on the Ikea to JNTU route, is a daily ordeal.
As per data from Cyberabad Traffic Police, traffic volume on this stretch peaks at over 7,000 vehicles per hour in a single direction from JNTU to Ikea between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., and in reverse during evening hours between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.. In total, around 1.5 lakh vehicles use this corridor daily, with more than 70,000 commuting in each direction. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the preferred in-office days under hybrid work models, the vehicle count goes even higher.
The problem is a simple case of more demand than supply. The road near Trident Hotel is a pinch point where six incoming lanes merge abruptly into just two. “Three lanes from Raidurgam underpass, two lanes from the Deloitte Drive and one wide lane from Mindspace rotary merge at this place but there is simply not enough tarmac for them to flow smoothly,” said Madhapur Traffic DCP T. Sai Manohar. “During peak hours, the commute from Ikea flyover to JNTU now takes nearly an hour, with vehicles crawling at an average speed of just 10 kmph during peak hours and 15-25 kmph otherwise,” he added.
Graph showing the traffic bottleneck between stretch between Lemon Tree Premier and Trident on the Ikea to JNTU route
| Photo Credit:
Subyendu Ganguly
“Out of 36 minutes from KPHB to Ikea Circle, I spent 26 minutes stuck in traffic,” one commuter wrote on X, echoing the frustration of thousands. Vehicles inch past the Trident Hotel, only to get stuck again at the Cyber Towers junction, where yet another bottleneck awaits.
Adding to the misery are vehicle breakdowns mostly due to fuel run-outs, and unregulated parking. “The pickup and drop-off points for over 20,000 employees from Cyber Gateway 1 and 2 further clog the route. Since the metro station is nearly 1.5 km away, most employees opt for cabs or private vehicles instead of walking.” said Mr. Manohar.
Widening hopes amid tangled wires and rock
Relief is on the way – at least on paper. After multiple representations to the Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC), the road widening proposal has finally received approval. Tenders have been cleared, and groundwork is expected to begin by the end of August. The plan involves adding a third lane to the existing two-lane stretch, which officials say could reduce commute times by up to 30 minutes.
However, even this measure comes with its own set of complications, noted the DCP.
First, there’s a stone outcrop near Trident that will need controlled blasting before fresh lanes can be laid. Then, two major underground electrical cables (11KV and 133KV) and other electrical wiring need to be relocated. In addition, during construction, one of the existing lanes will be blocked, which could temporarily worsen the congestion before it gets better.
To reduce traffic in the interim, traffic police have rerouted vehicles from Lemon Tree to the Tech Mahindra road, which leads to the Hitex signal and onward to Yashoda. While this detour adds 1.5 km, officials say it’s been effective in distributing traffic load and keeping travel times roughly the same.
Mr. Manohar said the stretch had only two lanes for the past 30–40 years despite witnessing exponential growth. “We’re pushing hard with the concerned departments to expedite the work. Widening should be completed by year-end,” he said.
The road ahead: pods and parallel routes
While the widening work offers a short-term solution, authorities are also banking on futuristic transport options. One long-term plan which is currently in discussion with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) involves AI-controlled pods – lightweight, six-seater vehicles running on elevated tracks that would connect metro stations directly to tech campuses. “These driverless pods, designed to weigh just 70–80 kilograms and carry at least 500 kilograms, could provide last-mile connectivity and ease the pressure on roads. However, that project is still five to ten years away,” the official said.
Meanwhile, alternative routes are being considered. A second corridor via the InOrbit Mall–Durgam Cheruvu–100-feet road could help commuters heading towards Kukatpally. Parvath Nagar RUB and the Tech Mahindra link road are also being looked at as temporary pressure valves.
For now, Hyderabad’s tech workers will have to continue their daily crawl through the Hitec City main road. The countdown to year-end has begun, but until then, the stretch from Ikea to JNTU remains a slow-moving test of patience and endurance.
Published – August 03, 2025 07:46 am IST
