Bhubaneswar: The ongoing soil testing for the sanctioned elevated corridor on the busy Jayadev Vihar-Nandankanan route has triggered massive traffic snarls, leaving thousands of commuters stranded and raising concerns over how traffic will be managed once full-scale construction begins.The soil investigation is being conducted as part of a project to transform the existing 9.5km-long six-lane road into a modern eight-lane corridor with flyovers. The testing, which began near Kalinga Stadium on Aug 6, is scheduled to continue up to Raghunathpur till Sept 19. The testing is intended to assess the soil’s strength and load-bearing capacity before construction of the corridor begins. However, the ongoing work has occupied a substantial portion of the road at several locations, sharply reducing the available motorable space.At present, testing is underway between KIIT Chowk and Kalarahanga Chowk, causing major bottlenecks, particularly for traffic heading towards Jayadev Vihar. The congestion has left commuters fuming, with several taking to social media to flag hours-long travel due to bumper-to-bumper traffic and difficulties faced by emergency vehicles.Ansuman Rath, a PSU official, who takes the route daily, said, “A 20-minute journey is now taking over an hour. The situation is becoming unbearable. Students, office-goers and patients are all getting affected.”“Was stuck for two hours from Z Estate to KIIT thanks to such poor management of traffic. Ambulances and emergency service providers were stalled for hours and peak work hours hampered,” Dr Manisha, another commuter along the route, posted on X.DCP (traffic) Anup Kanungo said, “Adequate personnel have been deployed near the soil testing sites to regulate traffic.”Traffic police officials said the testing work is expected to be completed before the festive season, when vehicular movement on the stretch typically increases significantly.“Just soil testing has the longest traffic jam I have seen on this road in the last 10 years. Can’t imagine what will happen when construction begins,” Krishna Rath, another commuter, wrote in a social media post.Suryakant, another commuter, attributed the problem largely to traffic mismanagement. “The road from Raghunathpur till Patia has become a nightmare, not due to soil testing but because of mismanagement of traffic. Not enough staff and the staff handling it are not efficient and energetic,” he posted on social media.Some commuters suggested that the authorities should have made alternative arrangements before starting the testing. “With no alternate arrangement, it’s more than a nightmare. Either they should have expanded the road first, switched the direction of traffic in the morning and evening, or simply carried out the work at night,” another road user said.Taraprasad Dash said the corridor connects the city with several important areas and is used by thousands of commuters every day. “Multiple crossings, indiscipline and ongoing soil testing work make even medical emergency movement difficult,” he posted.