One bad decision, endless traffic woes on Outer Ring Road

Tuesday , Mar 16, 2010

Nothing underlines the appalling lack of foresight of Delhi's city planners and traffic managers than the mess they have created on the Outer Ring Road at the Rao Tula Ram Marg flyover. The Delhi Government's much-hyped scheme to make Outer Ring Road signal free from Kalkaji to the airport and onward to the Gurgaon Expressway has come a cropper with the construction of a one-way flyover benefiting only those coming towards the city, while subjecting vehicles heading for the airport to interminable delays.

It is inexplicable why the authorities chose to build a one-way flyover and install a traffic signal for outbound traffic at the Rao Tula Ram Marg T-junction. This decision, which can only be described as stupid, is resulting in a massive tailback on Outer Ring Road just after Vasant Vihar. Vehicles come fast and furious from South Delhi thanks to two newly-opened six-lane flyovers at the JNU/Africa Avenue and Munirka crossings respectively; and then get stuck at the T-junction near Vasant Lok Apartments. Similarly, traffic turning right from Rao Tula Ram Marg to get to the airport or the Gurgaon Expressway has to wait for a long time, especially during peak hours.

A two-way, six-lane flyover here would have ensured traffic moved seamlessly both on Outer Ring Road and from Rao Tula Ram Marg. But thanks to their wisdom, only a one-way flyover was constructed. Short-sighted town planners did not foresee that uninterrupted traffic flow from Kalkaji and Nehru Place through Panchsheel Park would lead to a pile-up wherever it confronted a traffic signal. The mindless decision to build a one-way flyover has not only demolished the concept of signal-free Outer Ring Road, but also resulted in a huge problem for Vasant Vihar residents who are now forced to use the U-turn under the flyover and face long delays at the signal.

This has resulted in greater inconvenience to the residents of Vasant Vihar coming from Poorvi Marg, Vasant Marg and Pashchimi Marg and headed towards IIT and Nehru Place. Further, the closure of the right turns from Munirka flyover has created bottleneck at the Rao Tula Ram Marg crossing, as it facilitates uninterrupted flow of traffic up to the RTR Marg flyover.

Daily commuters maintain that the actual purpose of constructing the flyover has been defeated as it has only aggravated the traffic chaos in the area. "The traffic flow is more or less smooth from Nehru Place to Munirka but travelling across the brief stretch has become a harrowing task," said Ratan Singh Negi, who commutes daily from Nehru Place to Dwarka. Another commuter Rashmi rued that it took her nearly 40 to 50 minutes to cross the stretch as the traffic gets blocked on Outer Ring Road due to the merging traffic from Poorvi Marg, Vasant Marg and Pashchimi Marg. Notably, the Resident Welfare Associations of Vasant Vihar have also approached the Delhi High Court seeking directions to the authorities to clear the traffic mess in the area.

According to officials, the Delhi Traffic Police is involved in regular meetings with the Public Works Department (PWD) to find a solution to the problem. Senior traffic officials said that they were mulling over reversing the flow of traffic through the flyover. "We are planning to reverse the flow of traffic from IIT to IGI Airport, which is at present from the Airport towards IIT," said Ajay Chadha, Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic). He said that this would be done keeping in view the larger volume of traffic headed towards the airport. Though the proposal to reverse the traffic flow is against the original idea of constructing the flyover, yet the traffic cops estimate that it would help reduce the traffic mess up to 70 per cent. Chadha, however, said that the trials for the new traffic arrangements are likely to begin this week.

It may be noted that the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi had raised objections over the design of the flyover before it was constructed. While the L-G wanted it to be a double-carriageway flyover, it was not accepted by the Government as it would have damaged the houses along Palam Marg and Westrend Colony. Also, the PWD feared damage to the Malai Mandir in the area. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had assured the Malai Mandir authorities that the structure would not be harmed. It is pertinent to mention that the RTR Marg Flyover, constructed at a cost of Rs 60 crore, was opened for public in October last year. The Government had claimed that opening of the flyover would eliminate traffic jams on the route from the IIT to NH-8.

Original news source http://www.dailypioneer.com/242518/One-bad-decision-endless-traffic-woes-on-Outer-Ring-Road.html