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Gurugram: After about five months GMDA NHAI has approved the construction of an underpass at Vatika Chowk as part of the SPR reconstruction project, the authority is reconsidering the plan. The GMDA project coordinator has visited Vatika Chowk for the past few months and submitted some suggestions, which officials will now consider. These include scrapping the underpass plan and allowing the carriageway to remain at grade as vehicles move smoothly at signalized intersections, improving signals, proper maintenance of the stretch and safety measures for pedestrians.
The project coordinator suggested installation of Vatika chalk signals at more visible locations, L-shaped poles on all sides near the vehicle stop line. Another suggestion is to shorten stop times at intersections after 10 p.m., instead of turning signals to blinkers, to check heavy vehicles from speeding up. Keeping in mind the needs of pedestrians, other proposals like aligning traffic islands with stopping points and pelican signals and making the footpath under the Gurugram-Sohna Expressway at grade with bollards to prevent entry of two-wheelers are also on the table. Another is creating formal drop-off and pick-up zones for public transport. “All these suggestions came up for discussion at the GMDA Core Planning Cell (CPC) meeting this week, where the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) directed the concerned department heads to examine them. This will be followed by evaluating the project coordinator on incorporating implementable suggestions,” said a senior GMDA official briefed on the matter.
Initial SPR reconstruction plans include Vatika Chowk underpass, approved in June, and eight flyovers to ease traffic movement along the 12-km stretch. The stretch has a number of offices, commercial spaces and gated societies along it and connects Gurugram-Faridabad Road, Gurugram-Sohna Expressway and NH-8. Work on the underpass, NHAI officials said, has not started as the highway authority is still waiting for handover of land from the GMDA. But with new suggestions now under consideration, implementation of the final plan may begin later.
Vatika Chowk is a critical junction and one of the most congested and polluted places, where traffic flows from Rajiv Chowk, Sohna, Ghata Chowk on Gurugram-Faridabad Road and Narsinghpur side of NH-8. Dwarka Expressway Intersection Although the opening of the Gurugram-Sohna Expressway earlier this year has eased traffic congestion at the site somewhat, the underpass, officials had earlier felt, would help resolve the problem.
Road safety experts and urban planners, to whom TOI spoke, supported scrapping the underpass plan. “Underpasses have been constructed in many places in Gurugram, but they have only added to the problem. GMDA should look into the possibility of keeping the road at grade and ensure better management to solve the problem. A complete traffic survey is required, and then a low-cost at-grade design is planned and executed, which should include high-tech signals with speed detection and other advanced capabilities,” said road safety expert Sarika Panda Bhat. “My recommendation to the GMDA–maybe, try it for a year and then decide if an underpass is needed instead of spending time and money initially,” he said.
Residents, however, are concerned that constant revisions to the junction plan will only delay the project further.
The project coordinator suggested installation of Vatika chalk signals at more visible locations, L-shaped poles on all sides near the vehicle stop line. Another suggestion is to shorten stop times at intersections after 10 p.m., instead of turning signals to blinkers, to check heavy vehicles from speeding up. Keeping in mind the needs of pedestrians, other proposals like aligning traffic islands with stopping points and pelican signals and making the footpath under the Gurugram-Sohna Expressway at grade with bollards to prevent entry of two-wheelers are also on the table. Another is creating formal drop-off and pick-up zones for public transport. “All these suggestions came up for discussion at the GMDA Core Planning Cell (CPC) meeting this week, where the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) directed the concerned department heads to examine them. This will be followed by evaluating the project coordinator on incorporating implementable suggestions,” said a senior GMDA official briefed on the matter.
Initial SPR reconstruction plans include Vatika Chowk underpass, approved in June, and eight flyovers to ease traffic movement along the 12-km stretch. The stretch has a number of offices, commercial spaces and gated societies along it and connects Gurugram-Faridabad Road, Gurugram-Sohna Expressway and NH-8. Work on the underpass, NHAI officials said, has not started as the highway authority is still waiting for handover of land from the GMDA. But with new suggestions now under consideration, implementation of the final plan may begin later.
Vatika Chowk is a critical junction and one of the most congested and polluted places, where traffic flows from Rajiv Chowk, Sohna, Ghata Chowk on Gurugram-Faridabad Road and Narsinghpur side of NH-8. Dwarka Expressway Intersection Although the opening of the Gurugram-Sohna Expressway earlier this year has eased traffic congestion at the site somewhat, the underpass, officials had earlier felt, would help resolve the problem.
Road safety experts and urban planners, to whom TOI spoke, supported scrapping the underpass plan. “Underpasses have been constructed in many places in Gurugram, but they have only added to the problem. GMDA should look into the possibility of keeping the road at grade and ensure better management to solve the problem. A complete traffic survey is required, and then a low-cost at-grade design is planned and executed, which should include high-tech signals with speed detection and other advanced capabilities,” said road safety expert Sarika Panda Bhat. “My recommendation to the GMDA–maybe, try it for a year and then decide if an underpass is needed instead of spending time and money initially,” he said.
Residents, however, are concerned that constant revisions to the junction plan will only delay the project further.
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