The problem of traffic jam at Rajiv Chowk in Gurugram will be solved soon. file photo
Aditya Raj, Gurugram. The problem of traffic jam at Rajiv Chowk, one of the busiest intersections of Cyber City, will soon be solved. For this, Delhi-Gurugram Expressway and Gurugram-Sohna Highway near Rajiv Chowk will be directly connected by building two elevated ramps. An elevated ramp will be built above Tau Devi Lal Stadium for vehicles going from Delhi towards Gurugram-Sohna Highway.
Similarly, an elevated ramp will be built above the BSNL campus so that vehicles coming from Gurugram-Sohna Highway can go directly towards Delhi. Apart from this, another elevated ramp is also being considered to allow vehicles coming from Medanta Medicity to directly reach Gurugram-Sohna Highway. This ramp will be connected in the middle of the elevated ramp connecting Delhi-Gurugram Expressway to Gurugram-Sohna Highway from the Delhi side.
Many departments were brainstorming on how to solve the problem of traffic jam at Rajiv Chowk. Positive results of their discussions emerged on Wednesday.
At a joint meeting chaired by PC Meena, chief executive officer, Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), which was attended by representatives of NHAI, NCRTC, BSNL, DHBVN and HVPN, all the departments agreed that neither the flyover nor the underpass would solve the problem at the intersection.
They concluded that the best solution is to build separate elevated ramps on both sides to connect the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway and the Gurugram-Sohna Highway. During the meeting, it was also decided that another elevated ramp should be built so that vehicles coming from Medanta Medicity can directly go to Gurugram-Sohna Highway.
Within the next 15 days, it will be decided whether there are any pipelines, power cables or telephone cables on the proposed route of the elevated ramp. Once this information is received, it will be transferred to these utilities, and an estimate will be prepared. Once the estimate is prepared, the work will progress rapidly.
An NHAI official says building two separate elevated ramps to ease the traffic jam at Rajiv Chowk was the best decision that could have been taken. Efforts will be made to start work on the ground as soon as possible.
One minute journey in half an hour...
Currently, vehicles have to enter the service lane to reach Gurugram Highway from Delhi-Gurugram Expressway. There is heavy traffic jam on the service lane 24 hours a day. As a result, a journey that should take at most a minute often takes half an hour.
Similarly, trains going from Sohna to Delhi also face problems. Gurugram-Sohna Highway is directly connected to Delhi-Mumbai Expressway near Alipur village. Most of the Gurugram-Sohna Highway is elevated. Because of this there is no pressure of local traffic on the highway. After the construction of the elevated ramp, vehicles coming from Delhi will go directly to the Gurugram-Sohna Highway, meaning they will not have to face traffic jams at Rajiv Chowk.
The decision taken regarding Rajiv Chowk is good, but it is not a complete solution to the problem. The complete solution to the problem is to make the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway elevated like the Gurugram-Sohna Highway. As soon as the problem at Rajiv Chowk is resolved, the traffic pressure on Delhi-Gurugram Expressway will increase further.
Trains from Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will reach Delhi-Gurugram Expressway within a few minutes. No matter how many highways and expressways are built between Gurugram and Delhi, they cannot be compared with the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway. This is a lifeline. There is no other option except making it elevated.- JS Suhag, former Technical Advisor, NHAI