LUCKNOW, April 29 -- A new set of traffic diversions introduced by the Lucknow traffic department to ease congestion on Ayodhya Road and near the new high court led to severe gridlocks on Monday, bringing traffic to and fro to a standstill from Kamta Crossing to Polytechnic Crossing. The diversions, which came into effect on Monday, were announced a day earlier. Authorities said the changes were made in coordination with the public works department to reduce traffic at Kamta. Explaining the reason behind the diversion, additional deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Ashok Kumar Singh said, "The diversion was made because PWD is undertaking construction work at Kamta crossing due to which there is traffic pressure during the peak hours. However, we have deployed cops in enough numbers to manage the traffic." Despite the arrangement, commuters faced long delays throughout the day. Devki Nandan Pandey, joint secretary 1 of Oudh Bar Association, shared videos of the congestion, alleging that traffic personnel allowed heavy vehicles to park on the service road, further worsening the situation. Residents pointed out issues in signage as another factor contributing to the confusion. Irfan Ali, a resident of Surendra Nagar, observed that many drivers heading towards Chinhat from Polytechnic mistakenly entered the newly constructed U-turn towards the high court due to small and less visible signboards. "This causes sudden lane changes just before the U-turn, adding to traffic snarls on Ayodhya Road," he explained....