Delhi: Barapullah corridor struggles to cope as traffic load expands
With the Ashram intersection project under construction and severely restricted for three years, and the flyover shut for traffic for its last leg since January 2, commuters say a situation they saw go gradually from bad to worse has reached crisis levels
Once billed as a big solution for traffic congestion in south Delhi, the Barapullah Elevated Corridor is today among the worst stretches for people to cross at rush hours, leaving hundreds of vehicles routinely stranded in bumper-to-bumper jams that stretch on for several kilometres.
A little over a decade after its first phase opened in 2010 as one of the big-ticket Commonwealth Games projects, the elevated road serves as a lifeline for commuters travelling between parts of east Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad, and South Delhi, the Lutyens’ Zone, and the airport.
With the Ashram intersection project under construction and severely restricted for three years, and the flyover shut for traffic for its last leg since January 2, commuters say a situation they saw go gradually from bad to worse has reached crisis levels. “Crossing Barapullah in the evening rush hours was difficult before but is now nightmarish,” said Ravindra Bhat, a commuter stuck while trying to reach Noida. “In fact, with the Ashram flyover stuck, it’s become a hassle even at non-peak hours. This is a one-way road and people trying to avoid the snarls and long queues are now taking the wrong side to escape the traffic build-up, making things worse.”
Sewa Ram, professor of transport planning in the School of Planning and Architecture, said a narrower-than-usual road width and poorly planned exit points create a combination of factors that doomed this corridor by design.
“When vehicles are coming at a high speed of 60-70km/hr and the discharge rate of vehicles is so slow at both the AIIMS/INA and Sarai Kale Khan ends, it leads to two major traffic nodes at both points,” he said, adding that the main purpose of the stretch now seems to be defeated.
“The original goal behind Barapullah was to provide a clear south-east corridor and later the ends leading towards DND side were added. Now, it is failing at both purposes,” he added
Shreya Gadepalli, an independent transport expert and founder of the Urban Works Institute, said that the Barapullah experience shows that simply creating more lanes for vehicles cannot solve the problem, and that the Ashram closure has exacerbated things.
She said the problem needs to be looked at in two distinct aspects: mobility of people and traffic congestion. For mobility, she said, the city needs “better public transport, not more roads. The Metro alone won’t do. We need a world-class bus system to complement it. More buses, better buses, and dedicated lanes so that buses can move people swiftly and seamlessly.” For congestion, there need to be more deterrents. “Road pricing is the solution to the problem — like London, Singapore and other cities have demonstrated. It deters some motorists from driving, clearing the way for those willing to pay. And payment can now happen without vehicles having to stop at toll plazas.”