Ahmedabad: Tension prevailed on SP Ring Road on Saturday night after residents of New Tragad and Chandkheda held a protest demanding that a recently closed median opening near Hotel Hillock be reopened.

A large number of locals assembled at the stretch and blocked vehicular movement, resulting in a traffic jam extending over half a kilometre between Vaishnodevi Circle and Zundal Road. Earlier, on February 8, residents had initiated a signature campaign opposing the barricading of the median gap, claiming that its closure compels them to take a detour of nearly 4 km.

Protesters said that in the absence of the opening, many commuters are forced to use a narrow culvert located about 850 metres away. The culvert permits only one vehicle at a time, frequently causing congestion and bottlenecks. When traffic police arrived to ease the situation on Saturday night, demonstrators reportedly did not initially cooperate.

The closure of the median gap followed a coordination meeting during which BJP Rajya Sabha MP Narhari Amin highlighted traffic congestion at the location. Subsequently, authorities sealed the opening. However, residents argue that the move is inconsistent with the original traffic circle design, which they claim had provisioned for a median opening at the site.