Road repairs, festival traffic set to gridlock south and central Delhi

Officials said one carriageway on the Ashram to Badarpur side of the Sarita Vihar flyover will remain shut, impacting traffic heading towards the Kalkaji temple

New Delhi

Traffic on Ring Road and Outer Ring Road is set to be affected due to repairs coinciding with Dussehra period. (HT Archive)

Increased traffic on roads leading to temples located along the Ring Road and Outer Ring Road is set to exacerbate congestion on roads, especially in south and central Delhi, given ongoing road repairs near Chirag Delhi and the proposed partial closure of the Sarita Vihar flyover from October 3 for repairs, according to traffic advisories issued by Delhi Traffic Police.

Officials said one lane of the carriageway on the Ashram to Badarpur side of the Sarita Vihar flyover will remain shut, impacting traffic heading towards the Kalkaji temple.

“It will take 30 days to repair each carriageway. The stretch from Ashram to Badarpur will be repaired in the first and second phases — this will take a month. Repair work will be carried out on the stretch from Badarpur to Ashram in third and fourth phases — this will be done over the next month. However, the flyover will never be shut completely; one lane of the carriageway would be open for traffic,” an official of the Public Works Department (PWD) said.

PWD has received traffic police approval for repairs and has put up notices, the official said.

To be sure, the repair work was planned last year, but has been put off at least twice due to procedural concerns and subsequently, the onset of monsoon.

PWD officials said that the Sarita Vihar flyover was built in 2001, about 23 years ago, by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and needs urgent repairs. Partial closure of the flyover will likely affect thousands of daily commuters triggering snarls along the busy Mathura Road, and also affecting residents in parts of Badarpur, Jaitpur, Kalindi Kunj and New Friends Colony.

In an advisory for commuters heading to Kalkaji temple from October 3 to 13 — the Dussehra period — police said traffic on both carriageways of the road from Nehru Place to Modi Mills will be affected.

“Commuters going to IGI Airport, New Delhi, Old Delhi and Nizamuddin railway station, and ISBTs should leave with sufficient time in hand to accommodate possible delays on the route. Avail public transport to help decongestion of roads. Park your vehicles only at designated parking lots and avoid roadside parking as it causes hindrance to normal flow traffic,” traffic police said.

Roads leading to the Jhandewalan temple and Shri Adhya Katyayani Shaktipith temple are also expected to log heavy traffic flow during the festival period, police said.

Heavy traffic flow around the Jhandewalan temple will affect both carriageways of Rani Jhansi Road, Faiz Road, New Rohtak Road and DBG Road, and traffic flow around Shri Adhya Katyayani Shaktipith Mandir is likely to affect Chattarpur Mandir Road, CDR Chowk on MG Road, Mandi Village exit on MG Road, Mandi Road, Andheria Mor on MG Road, Anuvrat Marg, 100 Feet Road, 60 Feet Road, Main Chattarpur Road and the adjoining Y-junction.

Traffic police officials said that detailed deployment plans have been made to tackle the traffic along Outer Ring Road around all the expected congestion points.

“Along all three circles—Sangam Vihar, Kalkaji and Hauz Khas—two motorcycles each have been deployed for patrolling along the Outer Ring Road and a traffic inspector has also been permanently deployed, especially during the morning hours. Chirag Delhi situation is relatively better as work is mostly done at night. However, special deployment has been done near Kalkaji temple,” said a traffic police official.

The official said that for Sarita Vihar flyover as well, a detailed deployment plan has been made. Heavy vehicles will be diverted to road 13A and a U-turn towards Mathura Road will be provided, the official said.

Currently, PWD is repairing a 3.5-kilometre-long stretch of the Outer Ring Road from Chirag Delhi to Modi Mills. “This is a long-pending work that needs to be done at the earliest. This work is already slow as we can only do it during the night when there is no traffic. We need to stop all work, including cleaning up, by 6am latest every day as the Outer Ring Road already starts getting busy by then,” the PWD official said.

Experts said repairs are essential, but the timing should be planned and spaced for minimum inconvenience to daily commuters.

“It is very simple to plan work in phases so that not all the work is done along a single stretch that throws people’s schedule off track. Everyone knows of the Navratri dates and expected heavy traffic, so new repair work can be started after that. Sarita Vihar (repair) could possibly be started after Chirag Delhi ends. Also, it is important to give sufficient notice to people through hoardings, multiple advertisements, radio ads and other means so that people can plan accordingly. Better planning is key,” said S Velmurugan, chief scientist and head of the traffic engineering and safety division, Central Road Research Institute (CRRI).