New Delhi: Concerned about long traffic snarls and road crashes at five major intersections in the national capital, Public Works Department has decided to identify the design problems and engineering issues, and find a permanent resolution for the same.
PWD minister Parvesh Verma said a consulting firm, which worked with National Highways Authority of India, analysed 896 big and small intersections across the city in 2023. The firm will make a presentation on Friday on the proposed design and engineering interventions to improve traffic flow and make them safer for motorists and pedestrians. The five key intersections include the traffic junction near ITO, Mukarba Chowk, Metcalfe House and Kingsway Camp, apart from a critical location on Ring Road.
Verma said that despite a comprehensive analysis of engineering faults and other issues affecting nearly 900 traffic junctions by a consulting agency over two years ago, no step was taken to improve the flow of vehicles. “We have now decided to take up the traffic black spots one by one and make the necessary design changes. We not only want to reduce the congestion but also make them safer so that precious lives could be saved,” he said.
The locations chosen by PWD are among the most congested in the city. Verma said the redesign work was part of govt’s larger initiative to revamp the city’s traffic infrastructure.
The ITO crossing has been on govt’s agenda for many years now, and several consultants have suggested design interventions, including the construction of a flyover and an underpass to improve the traffic flow. Verma has already announced a flyover at the Metcalfe House crossing near the Civil Lines trauma centre and the DRDO office, where Outer Ring Road and Hegdewar Road merge, for an estimated Rs 183 crore.
While a clover-leaf grade separator was built at the Mukarba Chowk intersection ahead of the 2009 Commonwealth Games, the intersection continued to be a nightmare for both motorists and pedestrians and accident-prone. Three underpasses have been built to facilitate the movement of pedestrians and non-motorised vehicles near Haiderpur-Badli metro station, for motorists between Badli and Shalimar Bagh, and for heavy vehicles from Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar to Azadpur.
Verma said two more expert consulting firms had been separately asked to study the intersection and Andheria Mor to suggest possible solutions to decongest them.
A PWD official said the detailed survey of all intersections was based on simulations, and it could be changed as per the current traffic condition for design solutions.