Traffic police take steps to ensure free left at junctions

Traffic inspectors have been instructed to identify more locations where arrangements need to be made to ensure free left movement

Traffic police have started placing bollards and traffic cones to ensure compliance of the free-left rule at major intersections, after ground-level surveys found that motorists heading in other directions occupied the left lanes, blocking free access to those seeking to take a left turn, police said.

Gurugram Traffic Police to ease congestion and enhance traffic efficiency initiated a measure to streamline traffic flow by designating left lanes as free for vehicles at Iffco Chowk metro station traffic light near Sector-29 in Gurugram. (Parveen Kumar/HT PHOTO)

Police said the drive will ensure smoother traffic flow at major junctions and ease congestion at usual bottlenecks.

Virender Vij, deputy commissioner of police (traffic), said: “We conducted survey of major spots across the city and noticed that left lanes were occupied by commuters going straight or right. We decided to make them free for left-lane users. We have placed cones, set up barricades, and placed bollards at key locations across the city.”

Vij said the left lanes will remain free on major routes: Iffco Metro station signal to Millennium City Center and vice versa, and Huda City Center to Leisure Valley Park, at the Sector 31 junction, both sides of Rajiv Chowk underpass, T-points at Ghata, and sectors 21 and 22, from the direction of Rezangla Chowk, and at multiple points along the Sector 37 road, including Basai Chowk T-point, Z Chowk, and South City -2 Chowk.

Traffic inspectors have been instructed to identify more locations where arrangements need to be made to ensure free left, Vij said.

Commuters welcomed the initiative and said it would reduce congestion at intersections.

Abhimanyu Sharma, of Palam Vihar, who works in Delhi, said that he has to wait for over 20 minutes to take a left as it is always blocked. “It is frustrating to get stuck in traffic just because the left lane is blocked by vehicles going straight. This delay adds unnecessary stress to my commute. It is unfair that those of us wanting to turn left have to wait because others have not followed traffic rules,” he said.

Rajiv Bagga, of Sector 17 B, said that he has been late to work multiple times because he could not turn left due to congestion. “It is about time they made changes to improve traffic flow. It is not just about the inconvenience; it also affects our productivity,” he said.