Proposed 5-km-long elevated stretch on Old Delhi-Ggm Road to ease traffic to IGIA
Earlier in January, a GMDA spokesperson had said that they were told by DIAL officials that they had hired a consulting firm Nippon Koei India Pvt Ltd for conducting the required studies to assess the current traffic situation and future traffic generation between Gurugram and the Delhi Airport
Gurugram: To improve the movement of traffic between Gurugram and the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport in New Delhi, a consultant, hired by the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) and the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has proposed the construction of a 5-kilometre-long elevated road on the Old Delhi Gurugram Road between Atul Kataria Chowk and Samalkha near Dwarka, officials said.
The consultant has also recommended building an elevated road between NH 48 and Vatika Chowk along the Southern Peripheral Road. These recommendations and a few other proposals were presented during a project review meeting between GMR and GMDA officials held on July 30. The improvement in traffic movement between Gurugram and the IGI airport is crucial as almost 14 percent of the overall traffic to the Delhi airport originates from Gurugram, according to the consultant.
Before recommending the elevated roads, the consultant carried out a detailed study called, ‘Airport-Gurugram connectivity improvement study’.
According to the presentation made by the consultant (which has been seen by HT), a 5-km-long elevated road is required on the Old Delhi-Gurugram Road between Atul Kataria Chowk and the T-junction at Samalkha. This elevated road will have six lanes and it will transverse over 10 major junctions on this stretch, thus improving traffic movement on this stretch. The consultant has also recommended that a flyover be constructed from Rezangla Chowk to Dwarka expressway, passing over the Gurugram and Rewari railway track which shall help in redistribution of traffic in Old Gurugram.
A GMDA official aware of the matter said that a detailed discussion on these proposals was held during the meeting.
Earlier in January, a GMDA spokesperson had said that they were told by DIAL officials that they had hired a consulting firm Nippon Koei India Pvt Ltd for conducting the required studies to assess the current traffic situation and future traffic generation between Gurugram and the Delhi Airport.
The consultant has now suggested that a signal free intersection should be made at the intersection of the Old Gurugram road and Urban extension road (UER II) near Samalkha to reduce waiting time for commuters. It has also suggested an improvement in the U-turn at the India International Convention Centre to provide easy access to commuters going towards the airport.
Nearly 95% of commuters from Gurugram use cars and private taxis to reach the IGI airport, so the consultant has suggested more bus routes between Gurugram and IGI.
To improve the commute in the short term, it has also been recommended to take immediate steps on the Delhi-Gurugram expressway or the NH48 which is the key connecting road between these two locations. The consultant has proposed a two-lane exit from NH 48 to IGI airport, it has suggested improvements in entry and exits of NH 48, particularly at Shanker Chowk.
At the Sirhaul toll plaza, the consultant has identified issues, which need to be resolved such as existing merging lanes are not properly designed, there are several extra lanes before the MCD toll plaza, which abruptly get reduced creating a bottleneck, the MCD toll still does not have a RFID tolling system and this leads to delays.
“We have already taken up the project to construct an elevated road between the Dwarka expressway and Vatika Chowk along SPR. The other proposals whose construction is required in Gurugram can be taken up but these need approval of GMDA and the state government. The proposal to construct a flyover between Rezangla Chowk towards Dwarka expressway is also under the consideration of authority,” said Arun Dhankhar, chief engineer, GMDA.