Ambience underpass nears completion, city MO reviews work

With the completion of over 98% work on the Sirhaul underpass near Ambience Mall, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said on Thursday that it would be done by the end of July and opened for traffic in the first week of August.

NHAI officials said this during a review visit by Gurugram MP Rao Inderjit Singh on Thursday morning. During his visit, Singh asked NHAI officials to expedite work on the project as it would help people, travelling to Delhi, avoid taking a U-turn at Rajokri.

Earlier on Thursday morning, Singh took stock of the work and asked officials of the authority to complete the project at the earliest as it would largely improve the traffic situation at the Sirhaul border. “Several projects in Gurugram, which comes under the NHAI, are underway. Several projects such as underpasses at Hero Honda Chowk, Iffco Chowk, and Rajiv Chowk have been completed. These projects have improved the traffic situation, and this underpass will further make commuting easier for the residents,” said Singh.

The deadline for the completion of work on the Sirhaul underpass, which had started on March 5, 2019, was September 4, 2020. However, the November 2019 ban on construction work due to air pollution, and the coronavirus-imposed nationwide lockdown on March 24, 2020, stalled the project work twice. NHAI officials, however, said that they had continued working on the project despite intermittent breakdowns, and it is almost over.

“About 98.67% of the work on the four-lane underpass is done and only a 15-metre stretch inside the tunnel is incomplete, which shall be completed by the end of July. We will open the underpass for traffic in the first week of August,” said Gaurav Mittal, senior manager, NHAI.

The length of the U-turn underpass is 377 metres, while the entire stretch including access roads is 1.5-km-long — which includes a 559-metre-long and 7-metre-wide service road. The designated speed in this underpass has been set at 40kmph.

NHAI project director Shashi Bhushan said that the width of the underpass is 14 metres and vertical clearance of the tunnel is 5.5 metres. LED lights of 75 watts have been installed, and signages and dividers have been constructed as per the NHAI norms.

The flyover at Shankar Chowk, which is functional, was also built as part of this project. This grade-separated flyover has been designed for a motorable speed of 30kmph. It will be 455-metre-long with three lanes.