Pune
Ahead of the Pune Grand Tour (PGT) 2027 scheduled to be held between January 26 and 31 next year, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will once again remove speed breakers and rumblers along designated cycling routes and rebuild them after the international cycling competition; like it did last year. This time however, the speed breakers will be recreated in accordance with Indian Road Congress (IRC) guidelines; civic officials said. The PMC will also chisel out rumblers that could obstruct cyclists during the race, with the work to be carried out through existing contracts sans any separate budgetary allocation; said Aniruddha Pawaskar, chief engineer, civic road department. “Speed breakers along the designated routes will be removed for the competition and rebuilt afterwards. This time, they will be reconstructed as per IRC guidelines. Rumblers that could pose hurdles during the race will also be chiselled out. These works will be carried out through existing contracts, and there will be no separate fund allocation,” Pawaskar said.
The civic body is also expediting utility-related works along the routes, including water supply pipelines, sewerage networks, piped gas lines, electrical cables, CCTV infrastructure and optical fibre cables. Road department officials are coordinating with the concerned agencies to ensure that the works are completed within the stipulated time.
Pawaskar, along with road department officials, contractors and consultants, inspected the cycling routes over the past two days to review progress and resolve pending technical issues. “All concerned officials, contractors and agencies have been directed to expedite pending works without compromising on quality. They have also been instructed to ensure that utility chambers are raised precisely to the road level. The infrastructure must meet the requirements of the PGT while ensuring the safety of cyclists and citizens,” Pawaskar said.
The six-stage competition will cover 1,088 km across Pune district. Within the PMC limits, the cycling route has been expanded from 75 km in the previous edition to 134 km this year, prompting the civic body to undertake road improvement works along additional stretches. The PMC plans to improve riding quality on 84 km of newly-added cycling routes, repair roads damaged by utility trenches, and rectify footpaths. Standardised road signs and markings will also be installed along the designated stretches. The first stage of the six-stage event will cover 16 km within the PMC limits on January 26, and the final stage will cover 134 km within the civic body’s jurisdiction on January 31.
