PWD plans 6-lane corridor in Delhi’s Bawana to decongest traffic

A senior PWD official said that the elevated corridor will cater to residents of Bawana, Kanjahwala, and Narela who regularly commute to Haryana

The Public Works Department (PWD) is planning to develop an elevated six-lane corridor from Bawana to the Auchandi border with Haryana, officials aware of the proposed project have said. This corridor, the officials said, will reduce the vehicular load on arterial roads in Rohini and Pitampura, and will give residents of northwest Delhi easier access to the Western Peripheral Expressway.

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The proposed corridor is currently at the initial planning stage. PWD has carried out a feasibility study of the project, which will be followed by the preparation of a detailed project report, expenditure sanction approval, and finally, the tendering phase.

A senior PWD official said that the elevated corridor will cater to residents of Bawana, Kanjahwala, and Narela who regularly commute to Haryana. “The proposed length of this six-lane corridor is 3.5km, and it has a space availability of 22 metres — 11m for each carriageway — barring a 500m section near a local market in Bawana. We may need to acquire land in these narrow points. The project will cost around ₹400 crores and will take around 18 months to complete, once approved,” the official said, requesting anonymity.

At present, the Auchandi-Bawana Road, which connects Bawana Chowk with the Haryana border, is around 6km long and passes through some of the most congested areas in the city — Bawana Industrial Area, Nangal, Haravali, Kanjhawala road and Narela.

“The 3.5km long flyover aims to segregate the local and through traffic to help reduce congestion for local residents,” the official said.

Residents of this part of Delhi have long been demanding the construction of a flyover to ease traffic congestion. Local MLA Jai Bhagwan from AAP said that the flyover will help the entire region.

“It will have a section starting from DSIIDC Bawana which will pass through Bawana chowk and extend towards Auchandi till local stadium on Auchandi road. A second arm of the flyover will diverge from Bawana chowk and end near local Hanuman temple on Bawana road,” he said.

PWD has already carried out an electronic survey of the traffic volume along the site of the proposed corridor and has noted encroachments and space availability along this stretch. “We have carried out traffic study of the stretch based on which detailed project report will be made,” the official added.

Dr S Velmurugan, chief scientist and head of traffic engineering division of Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), said improving access to the Western Peripheral Expressway will have a cascading impact on reducing the traffic volume load on the other arterial roads in northwest Delhi.

“We should plan more such projects in outer Delhi areas to prevent the congestion which central Delhi faces on a regular basis,” he added.