U-turn Flyover at Iffco Chowk to Reduce Travel Time by 15 min

Commuters heading from Sukhrali to MG Road can bypass junction under flyover.

Travel time of commuters moving from Sukhrali and Manesar towards MG Road on the Delhi-gurgaon Expressway will be cut by at least 15 minutes with the opening of a unidirectional U-turn at Iffco Chowk on January 1, said traffic police officials on Saturday.

On Saturday, officials of the NHAI inspected the four-lane flyover and gave the go-ahead for its opening.

At present, commuters have to take Exit 17 on the Delhi-gurgaon Expressway and take a right turn below the Iffco Chowk flyover to head towards the MG Road. To make this cut, commuters have to wait at the junction where traffic from Sukhrali/sector 17 and MG Road also merges, leading to heavy congestion.

“Once the new U-turn flyover is opened it will at least save 15 minutes for commuters during the peak hours. It will take less than a week for daily commuters to get accustomed with the new infrastructure, and once these routes are updated on navigation maps, the junction will become free-flow,” said Hira Singh, assistant commissioner of police (ACP), highways.

At present, traffic police officers say it takes 20-25 minutes to cross the stretch during the peak hours, but now, it may take less than five minutes, Singh said.

At times such is the backlog of vehicles during peak hours that it stretches back nearly 200 metres to the expressway, from where commuters need to take the exit. Inadvertently, vehicles end up occupying a lane of the expressway, leading to congestion on the highway as well.

“This U-turn flyover is the need of the hour as it will help us bypass the junction (under the Iffco Chowk flyover) altogether and reach MG Road. Currently, driving below the flyover is a problem as the time to clear the stretch is erratic and can cause a major delay,” Manish Sinha, a resident of Essel Towers, said.

From Tuesday, commuters no longer need to take a left at Exit 17 and can take the Iffco Chowk flyover instead.

After 900 metres, they need to exit the road to access the Rs32.75 crore U-turn flyover, which will take commuters on to the service lane of the expressway, opposite the ABW tower. From here, commuters can turn left to head towards the mall mile.

On Saturday, officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) inspected the fourlane flyover and gave the

go-ahead for its opening. “The flyover has been inspected and relevant tests have been carried out. The NHAI will be opening the flyover on January 1,” said Ashok Sharma, project director of NHAI.

Due to the presence of a fuel station and a high-tension tower, the 917-metre flyover had remained closed for more than a year.

The two structures were removed last week, paving the way for its completion, said NHAI officials.

Sewa Ram, an urban transport

systems design expert and faculty member at the School of Planning and Architecture, said that the junction would also help people travelling on the mall mile — the section of MG Road where at least 12 malls are located — and Sukhrali reach their destination easily.

“The Iffco Chowk junction will become less congested due to the opening of the flyover, as the traffic coming from one direction (from Exit 17 towards MG Road) will be diverted. It will also assist people moving from the mall mile towards New Delhi and

Sukhrali, and from Sukhrali towards the MG Road,” said Ram.

The NHAI is also constructing a flyover ahead of the ABW Tower at Exit to help those travelling from Cyber City and DLF Phase 2 to head directly towards Jaipur and bypass MG Road. The project is currently stuck as a 220KV high tension tower is located on its alignment.

Once it is complete, those taking the new U-turn flyover can also access this and head towards Jaipur by avoiding the MG Road.

Source : HT