Mohali, March 15 -- With a growing number of vehicles shifting to the Bharatmala corridor, traffic pressure on Airport Road (PR-7) in Mohali has begun to ease, making a return of restrictions on heavy vehicles during peak hours unlikely. The 31-km greenfield stretch connecting IT Chowk near Chandigarh International Airport to the Kurali-Chandigarh road is increasingly being used by vehicles coming from Delhi and heading towards Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir, traffic that earlier largely passed through PR-7. Officials said a significant portion of heavy vehicles has shifted to the newly operational road built under the Centre's Bharatmala Pariyojana, easing the load on PR-7, one of the main access roads to Chandigarh International Airport. According to traffic data, the daily vehicular load on PR-7, which earlier hovered around 70,000 vehicles, has come down to around 20,000 after the alternate corridor became functional. At the same time, traffic on the Bharatmala road has steadily increased. In December last year, the stretch was recording around 8,000 vehicles per day, but the number has now crossed 20,000 vehicles daily. The toll plaza on the corridor, which became operational on February 1, is now collecting nearly Rs.13 lakh per day, indicating a steady rise in traffic flow. DSP (traffic) Karnail Singh said, "Heavy vehicles are taking the Bharatmala road and the connecting routes, so the pressure on PR-7 has reduced considerably." Deputy commissioner Komal Mittal said the reduction in traffic load on Airport Road means earlier restrictions on heavy vehicles may no longer be necessary. Harpreet Singh traffic expert said the rising vehicle count on the new road indicates that motorists are gradually adopting the alternate route. However, industry representatives say the corridor's full potential will be realised only if better road signage is installed to guide motorists, particularly those coming from outside the region. Vivek Kapoor, former chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Mohali, said many travellers from Delhi or other cities may not yet be aware that the road connects directly to Kurali and beyond....