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Pragati Maidan tunnel corridor to open for vehicles with curbs
However, commuters headed towards central Delhi from east Delhi or vice versa will be able to use the 1.4km-long tunnel only after 9.30am-10 am, according to a senior Delhi PWD official.
New Delhi: The much-awaited Pragati Maidan integrated transit corridor, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, will be opened for vehicular movement on Monday morning, said India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) and Public Works Department (PWD) officials.
However, commuters headed towards central Delhi from east Delhi or vice versa will be able to use the 1.4km-long tunnel only after 9.30am-10 am, according to a senior Delhi PWD official. The plan is to open the tunnel on trial basis during the day time for a few days, the official added.
“The tunnel and the underpasses will be opened for public use from 9.30am-10am on Monday. The project will ease congestion on Mathura Road and Bhairon Marg, and it will have an impact on nearby arterial roads as well,” said a senior ITPO official, asking not to be named.
The PWD and Delhi Traffic Police plan to operate the tunnel on trial basis for a few days due to which vehicular movement will be allowed only during the day time.
“On Monday morning, traffic coming from the east Delhi side can use the tunnel after 10am to go towards central Delhi. We will open the second carriageway (from central Delhi to east Delhi) of the tunnel after a few hours. We are still discussing the traffic plan with Delhi Traffic Police. For now, the tunnel will be shut during night. Though we are yet to decide on the timing, the tentative plan is to open the tunnel between 8am and 8pm. We want to do the trial run before it is opened for vehicular traffic completely,” said a senior Delhi PWD official.
When contacted, a senior Delhi Traffic Police official said, “The PWD is yet to inform us about its plan to open the tunnel tomorrow.”
Sudhin Biswas, a resident of Gurugram, said, “I was visiting a friend in east Delhi. I thought the tunnel would have been opened to the public by Sunday evening and was planning to use it. But, this will bring down the travel time between central Delhi and east Delhi. Currently, it takes at least 30-40 minutes to cross this stretch during peak hours. Due to the construction work, I used to avoid taking Bhairon Marg.”
The transit corridor includes a 1.4km long tunnel passing through Pragati Maidan connecting Ring Road to Purana Qila Road and six underpasses on Mathura Road and Bhairon Marg of which five were inaugurated by the PM on Sunday. While all five underpasses are ready, work on an underpass at Ring Road and Bhairon Marg intersection is still going on.
The Delhi PWD official, aware of the development said, “After discussion with the traffic police, we have shifted the existing U-turn on Ring Road closer to the IP flyover. This has been done to ease traffic movement around the tunnel. Now, traffic coming from east Delhi can easily access the tunnel, as the Ring Road and Bhairon Marg intersection has been made signal free. Due to the recent change, those coming from Bhairon Marg and heading towards NH-9 will have to drive a bit extra to take a U-turn on Ring Road, as it has been moved closer to the IP flyover,” said the PWD official.
The tunnel, Delhi PWD officials said, will ease the movement between central Delhi and east Delhi. The traffic coming from central Delhi and heading towards east Delhi can now quickly access Vikas Marg or National Highway-9 (Delhi-Meerut expressway) using the tunnel.
“The five underpasses on Bhairon Marg and Mathura Road will ease traffic movement on the two arterial roads,” said a Delhi PWD official.
The transit corridor, a senior traffic official said, will smoothen the traffic movement in the area. “Due to the heavy traffic volume during the peak hours, it used to take 30 minutes at least for central Delhi-bound traffic coming from east Delhi to cross this stretch. The existing road infrastructure was not sufficient to handle the traffic load. But now, the tunnel will solve the problem to a great extent.”
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