Three ‘new’ flyovers to decongest Punjabi Bagh

NEW DELHI: The two flyovers on Mahatma Gandhi Road in Punjabi Bagh built by the Public Works Department in 2002 have outlived their usefulness with the traffic volume having increased several fold since then. These will not only be expanded now, but a third will be built to ease movement in what has become a perennial choke point.

“The situation is worsening by the day because there are no flyovers or underpasses for vehicles going from east to west Delhi and vice-versa to cross MG Road,” a PWD official said.The trouble is also because the two existing flyovers there — one at the Club Road intersection and the other at the Moti Nagar junction — are both one-way, two-lane facilities. The first was planned to allow traffic movement from Raja Garden in the east to Punjabi Bagh in the west and the second to facilitate movement in the opposite direction.
“The plan is both to turn these one-way facilities into flyovers with three lanes each in both directions and to increase the lengths of the flyovers,” the official said. The existing flyover at the Club Road intersection is around 600 metres long and will now be extended up to ESI Hospital, taking its overall length to around 1.5km. It would then be able to handle three times more traffic than the current load, the planners said.
“These sections are worst affected between 5pm and 8pm and between 7am and 10am every day. Surveys have shown that thousands of vehicles cross the stretches at these times and the road is choked,” said a source privy to the project plans. “The extension of these flyovers has become necessary if we are to see traffic moving smoothly.”
According to an official, when the work on revamping these flyovers starts, the traffic there will be diverted and those approaching it from the cross directions will have to take U-turns, one at Raja Garden and the other at Moti Nagar. The official said this would much not harass commuters much because the detours do not involve lengthy distances.
The project, officials said, will be completed in three phases. The first phase will include the widening of the flyover at Club Road intersection and construction of additional ramps for its extension. In the second phase, work would be undertaken to expand the Moti Nagar flyover and erect a new flyover parallel. In the third phase, the ramps from Club Road to ESI Hospital will be given the superstructure required to create an elevated extension.
The Rs 300-crore infrastructure projects should take a year’s time to finish, the PWD officials opined. They added that the project plans have been submitted to Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning and Engineering) Centre, which has oversight of all transportation and transport engineering project in Delhi. Once the proposal is approved by UTTIPEC, the plan papers will be forwarded to Delhi government for cabinet approval. The officials hope to have these clearances soon so that the work can start at the earliest.