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Bharatmala corridor eases load on PR-7; heavy vehicle curbs on Airport Road unlikely
Officials said a significant portion of heavy vehicles has shifted to the newly operational road built under the Centre’s Bharatmala Pariyojana, easing the load on PR-7, one of the main access roads to Chandigarh International Airport
Mohali:With a growing number of vehicles shifting to the Bharatmala corridor, traffic pressure on Airport Road (PR-7) in Mohali has begun to ease, making a return of restrictions on heavy vehicles during peak hours unlikely. The 31-km greenfield stretch connecting IT Chowk near Chandigarh International Airport to the Kurali-Chandigarh road is increasingly being used by vehicles coming from Delhi and heading towards Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir, traffic that earlier largely passed through PR-7.
Officials said a significant portion of heavy vehicles has shifted to the newly operational road built under the Centre’s Bharatmala Pariyojana, easing the load on PR-7, one of the main access roads to Chandigarh International Airport.
According to traffic data, the daily vehicular load on PR-7, which earlier hovered around 70,000 vehicles has come down to around 20,000 after the alternate corridor became functional. At the same time, traffic on the Bharatmala road has steadily increased. In December last year, the stretch was recording around 8,000 vehicles per day, but the number has now crossed 20,000 vehicles daily.
The toll plaza on the corridor, which became operational on February 1, is now collecting nearly ₹13 lakh per day, indicating a steady rise in traffic flow.
The 31-km corridor was constructed at a cost of around ₹1,400 crore, for which a Maharashtra-based company was awarded the construction work in October 2022. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had taken up the project after scrapping the earlier 40-km Kharar-Banur-Tepla road project in July 2019 due to its high cost.
Traffic officials say the corridor is already serving its intended purpose by diverting heavy traffic away from the airport road.
DSP (Traffic) Karnail Singh said that, “Most heavy vehicles are now using the Bharatmala corridor and its connecting roads, so the pressure on PR-7 has reduced considerably”.
Officials in the district administration echoed the assessment. Deputy Commissioner Komal Mittal said: “Pressure on PR-7 has significantly reduced after the Bharatmala road became operational. Since heavy vehicles are already diverting to that corridor, restrictions on their movement on Airport Road may not be required”..
Traffic planners say the increasing use of the corridor is a positive development for the region’s road network.
Harpreet Singh traffic expert said the rising vehicle count on the new road indicates that motorists are gradually adopting the alternate route. “It is a good sign that more people are using the Bharatmala corridor. As traffic shifts there, congestion on PR-7 and other urban stretches will reduce accordingly,” the expert said.
However, industry representatives say the corridor’s full potential will be realised only if better road signage is installed to guide motorists, particularly those coming from outside the region.
Former chairman of the Industrial Association, Vivek Kapoor, said many travellers from Delhi or other cities may not yet be aware that the road connects directly to Kurali and beyond.
“Now that the road is functional, proper signage is important. Someone coming from Delhi may not know this route connects to Kurali. If clear signboards are installed, it will help more vehicles use this road,” he said.
With traffic gradually shifting to the Bharatmala corridor, officials believe the new route will play a key role in managing vehicular movement in the Chandigarh-Mohali-Zirakpur region and reducing congestion on the airport road in the coming months.
