Noida eyes smooth Kalindi Kunj ride, Delhi braces for rush

NOIDA: Opening on Friday, the Kalindi Kunj bridge will throw a new set of challenges on the traffic front, with little change in the status of the nightmarish red light which is a major headache for Delhi.
While commuters travelling from Noida to Delhi would be relieved as they will have a free run till a few metres before the Kalindi Kunj traffic signal, they will have to stop to pay the MCD toll tax, which will relocate from its current position to the end of the new six-lane bridge.
New six-lane bridge will be used only for traffic approaching Delhi from Noida
The new six-lane bridge will be used only for traffic approaching Delhi from Noida while the two carriageways of the existing Kalindi Kunj bridge will serve only commuters travelling from Delhi towards Noida. At the end of the new bridge, commuters travelling from Noida to Sarita Vihar, Faridabad and Jaitpur will be sifted for payment of the MCD toll tax.
Six-lane bridge will channelise into two lanes
For ensuring that the commuters bound for Jaitpur and Madanpur Khadar do not merge with those travelling towards Sarita Vihar and Faridabad, a new traffic light will be installed at the beginning of the loop facing Noida commuters bound for Jaitpur.
While the Delhi traffic police is waiting to assess the impact of the opening of the bridge, it is expected that it will cause congestion at the traffic light, where Delhi commuters travelling towards Jaitpur and those coming from Faridabad side to Noida will merge with the six-lane traffic from Noida.
Since the six-lane bridge will channelise into two lanes just before the traffic light, commuters are expected to form a beeline here and wait for the red light to clear way for them. There will be at least two stoppages for commuters travelling from Noida to Delhi. The first will be the MCD toll tax, for which the existing toll tax booth will be relocated to the end of the bridge.
D Suryavanshi, toll manager for the company that handles toll collection at the Noida-Delhi border, said the booth will be shifted to the new bridge. “We have been directed to shift the toll booth to the end of the new bridge as soon as it opens. We have heard that the bridge will open on Friday evening. We will install the booth as and when we get directions from seniors,” he said.
The toll staff and the Delhi traffic cops who are already dealing with notorious commuters attempting to evade tax collection will have to deploy extra staff here, to ensure proper sifting of the commercial vehicles from private ones so that tax can be collected from them.
While this will first halt traffic flow a few metres before the end of the bridge, the next stop will be at the existing red light of the Kalindi Kunj junction which usually witnesses a long waiting time for commuters travelling from both the sides. ACP (traffic), Delhi Police’s south-east district, Gursewak Singh, said, “We are planning to manage this point manually. We will increase deployment here and will make an impact assessment in about 15-20 days. We will then make suggestions to PWD and the state government accordingly.”
Meanwhile, Noida traffic police seems to be relieved as the congestion will shift from their area to Delhi. “They (Delhi cops) need to regulate the traffic merging at the junction. They will have to stop the approaching traffic going towards Sarita Vihar and Faridabad,” said Gautam Budh Nagar SP (traffic) Anil Jha.