Cycle track from Hanuman Chowk to Delhi border to be built soon

The construction will begin in January and likely take eight months to complete at the stretch, which sees two accidents a week due to the high volume of pedestrians and cyclists

The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) said Tuesday it will begin construction of a cycle track on the one kilometre stretch from Hanuman Chowk to the New Delhi border in Dundahera in January. The decision was taken at the 50th core planning committee meeting of GMDA held on Tuesday, officials said, and the work will likely be completed within eight months.

At the 50th core planning committee meeting of GMDA, officials also decided to increase vehicle towing charges for wrong or illegal parking on Gurugram’s roads. (HT Photo)

Virender Singh Sangwan, deputy commissioner of police (traffic), said hundreds of industrial labourers and cyclists cross this stretch during peak hours. “At least two accidents a week are reported from this stretch and due to the high volume of pedestrians and cyclists, the stretch is one of most congested in the city. Our teams have been deployed to manage the traffic situation during office hours,” he said.

The road is among 37 stretches that were identified as unsafe for cyclists in a survey conducted in April by the Gurugram traffic police, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) and GMDA

Sudhir Rajpal, chief executive officer, GMDA, said residents of the area urged them to develop and upgrade this stretch of road. “GMDA is considering this project on priority to deliver better civic amenities as desired by residents. We have also directed that the cycle track must be lined with grills to demarcate the area exclusively for cyclists,” he said.

In October 2020, the city’s first cycle track had come up on Netaji Subhash Marg. Since then, the GMDA has built cycle tracks on the Bijwasan-Rezang La Chowk stretch, the Maharana Pratap Chowk-Atul Kataria Chowk stretch and Hamilton Court Road. The GMDA plans to build 800 km of cycle tracks in the city by 2035.

At the Dundahera stretch, a reinforced cement concrete (RCC) drain-cum-footpath will also be constructed along with the cycle track. The GMDA team has been directed to focus on the drainage work to prevent waterlogging during monsoon in this densely populated area.

Sarika Panda Bhatt, a road safety expert and former programme coordinator of the now-defunct Haryana Vision Zero campaign, said the area is an urban village and lots of people walk and cycle. “The current design does not have a safe crossing or traffic island for pedestrians. This intersection needs to be redesigned after proper traffic survey.”

Heftier fine for wrong parking

Among the other issues discussed at the core planning committee meeting was the issue of illegal or wrong parking on city roads. Officials said vehicle towing fines will be raised for wrong parking. The new vehicle tow away charges will be ₹500 for two-wheelers, ₹1,000 for light vehicles and ₹2,000 for medium and heavy vehicles, said officials.

Other decisions taken at meet

Repair work is also underway on the master dividing road of sectors 112 and 114, Rajpal said. GMDA has written to the Gurugram traffic police team to prevent entry of heavy vehicles on this road until repairs are completed.

Issues pertaining to supply of drinking water by GMDA in the city were also discussed at the meeting on Tuesday. “To ensure safe and clean water, chlorination is being carried out at both Basai and Chandu Budhera water treatment plants. We will further adopt the centralised integrated water management system (CIWMS), under which the monitoring of chlorine levels in water will become automated. Currently, the daily reports compiled manually are being uploaded on the GMDA website under the citizen corner section for public awareness,” said Rajpal.