Traffic curbs in place ahead of Barapullah Phase-3 opening

With the Barapullah Phase III set to be inaugurated next week, traffic police have enforced restrictions on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway (DME) exit towards Sarai Kale Khan, diverting the traffic towards Kalindi Kunj from Madanpur Khadar in an attempt to manage traffic congestion expected from next week

With the Barapullah Phase III set to be inaugurated next week, traffic police have enforced restrictions on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway (DME) exit towards Sarai Kale Khan, diverting the traffic towards Kalindi Kunj from Madanpur Khadar in an attempt to manage traffic congestion expected from next week. The closure has resulted in congestion at Kalindi Kunj — an already busy stretch.

The long-delayed Barapullah Phase III elevated corridor — a signal-free link between Mayur Vihar Phase I in east Delhi and Sarai Kale Khan — is set to be inaugurated on September 29.

The long-delayed Barapullah Phase III elevated corridor — a signal-free link between Mayur Vihar Phase I in east Delhi and Sarai Kale Khan — is set to be inaugurated on September 29 in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah and Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta.

Police officials said they expect that traffic may ease on Sarai Kale Khan as those going from South Delhi to Mayur Vihar, but only in a situation if the DME exit towards Sarai Kale Khan remains shut, which is currently a temporary decision. Officials believe that if the DME exit opens, the congestion at Sarai Kale Khan may increase.

According to a traffic officer, for now, vehicles are allowed to get on the DME from Sarai Kale Khan side, but not exit it. Instead, they are diverted about 11km near Madanpur Khadar.

“The traffic is diverted towards Kalindi Kunj. It may increase the stress on that stretch but the move will not hamper the traffic at a critical junction like Sarai Kale Khan,” the officer said, adding that it’s a temporary decision for now and the situation will be assessed after the inauguration of the Barapulla Phase III.

Sarai Kale Khan is one of Delhi’s most complex junctions that receive traffic from five high-speed corridors — the Barapullah corridor, the Outer Ring Road from Maharani Bagh and Ashram sides, the DME and the Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) Flyway. Over a nearly 200 metre-stretch, its 14 lanes converge before being funnelled into a three-lane flyover, leading to serpentine jams that stretch several kilometres, particularly during peak hours.

Officials said the situation has become more complicated with changes in traffic patterns following the opening of the DME in August.

“Traffic movement between Faridabad and Noida, which earlier had an alternative route through Kalindi Kunj, has increasingly shifted towards the DND, adding to the load at the Sarai Kale Khan end,” said a traffic officer.

The absence of dedicated loops and slip roads for traffic moving between the different corridors has further aggravated the problem. Vehicles travelling from Faridabad towards Noida on the DME, for instance, have to negotiate U-turn movements around Maharani Bagh or Sarai Kale Khan to access the DND, creating conflict points and slowing down traffic on already heavily loaded stretches, officials said.

Similarly, vehicles travelling towards NH-9 and NH-24 have to pass through the Sarai Kale Khan junction, adding another stream of traffic to the bottleneck.

Traffic officials said “the congestion is not merely a result of the volume of vehicles but also the manner in which different traffic streams are being forced to merge at the same point”.

In June, a traffic officer said that a few measures were proposed to the concerned agencies. One of the key measures proposed was a dedicated loop or slip road for vehicles travelling from Faridabad towards Noida. “Such a link, if created by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), would eliminate the need for these vehicles to take U-turns at Maharani Bagh or Sarai Kale Khan,” the officer said.

Another proposed intervention was a dedicated loop for traffic travelling from the DME towards NH-9 and the Ghazipur side. This would separate that movement from traffic using the Sarai Kale Khan flyover and reduce merging and weaving at the junction.

The public works department (PWD) has also been asked to examine widening the Maharani Bagh-Sarai Kale Khan stretch by adding another lane to increase capacity on the approach, the officer said.

In the longer term, officials have proposed widening the existing Sarai Kale Khan flyover from its present three lanes to five or six lanes.

The measures are aimed at addressing both the immediate conflict points and the “capacity constraint” at the junction. However, with multiple major corridors converging at Sarai Kale Khan, officials say coordinated intervention by the NHAI and PWD will be necessary to prevent congestion on one corridor from spilling over into another.

The junction has emerged as a critical point in Delhi’s regional traffic network, linking movement between central and south Delhi, Noida, Faridabad and the eastern and western parts of the Capital.