With the construction of flyovers and underpasses at four major intersections in the city -- IFFCO Chowk, Signature Tower, Maharana Pratap Chowk and Rajiv Chowk -- in full swing, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) hopes to wrap up the multi-crore project by March next, almost a year ahead of the schedule.
Inaugurated by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in September last, the targeted date for the completion of the project is March 31, 2019.
“Almost 30% of the work has been completed in less than five months. Going at this pace, the project is likely to be completed by March 31, 2018,” said project director, NHAI, Ashok Kumar Sharma, who attributed the achievement to better co-ordination among agencies such as the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram, the Haryana Urban Development Authority, the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Corporation and the Deputy Commissioner’s office.
The Millennium City has emerged as a major hub of IT companies, IT-enabled services and multi-national companies, resulting in an unprecedented growth of traffic. Although commissioning of the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway has led to a reduction in travelling time from Delhi to Gurugram, swift intra-city movements, especially across National Highway-8, continues to be a huge challenge. The project has been implemented to tackle these problems.
Two four-lane unidirectional flyovers have been proposed on both sides of IFFCO Chowk, the busiest intersection of the city, on NH-8. This will facilitate a U-turn for traffic coming from the directions of Delhi and Jaipur.
Although piers for the flyovers are under construction, the construction of ramps has been hindered due to delay in shifting of a cremation ground and a CNG station. The NHAI has written to the MCG, requesting shifting of the cremation ground at the earliest. This may, however, take six months.
Another four-lane flyover has been proposed at IFFCO Chowk, parallel to the existing flyover, for signal-free passage to traffic coming from Delhi and going towards Maharana Pratap Chowk.
A right-turn underpass has been proposed on Mehrauli-Gurugram Road, as traffic snarls are often witnessed on the stretch. While digging for the ramp has begun, the contractor awaits shifting of a petrol pump by the Haryana Urban Development Authority.
Two foot over bridges across M.G. Road and pedestrian subways for movement across NH-8 and M.G. Road will also be constructed at IFFCO Chowk.
At Rajiv Chowk, two double-lane underpasses will be constructed for signal-free movement on NH-8. Another double-lane underpass, to facilitate seamless passage for traffic coming from the direction of Medanta Hospital and going towards Delhi, is likely to be opened in another two months at Rajiv Chowk. Similarly, the four-lane bi-directional flyover at Maharana Pratap Chowk on M.G. Road is likely to be thrown open by June 30.
Two foot over bridges will also be constructed at Rajiv Chowk. At Signature Tower, two three-lane underpasses are being constructed for signal-free movement between Old and New Gurugram.
However, the work for dedicated tracks for non-motorised transport is yet to start on Rajiv Chowk due to delay in permission from the Forest Department for felling trees on the stretch. In fact, permission is awaited for felling trees in around five hectares spread across the four construction sites.
The delay could hamper the construction of drains and lead to flooding at these intersections during monsoon, besides slowing down the pace of work, said a NHAI official.
