Gurugram: Shankar Chowk underpass for pedestrians opened for traffic

The subway can be used by pedestrians and cyclists to safely cross the highway as they earlier used to cross the busy road at surface level, which witnesses heavy traffic movement.

The pedestrian subway at Shankar Chowk connecting the opposite sides of the Delhi Gurgaon Expressway was opened for traffic trial on Thursday. The underpass has been constructed by DLF Foundation to connect Udyog Vihar on one side and National Media Centre in the other side. The subway can be used by pedestrians and cyclists to safely cross the highway as they earlier used to cross the busy road at surface level, which witnesses heavy traffic movement, said DLF officials aware of the matter.

A pedestrian seen using the underpass on Thursday. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

“The pedestrian subway has been opened for traffic today. The cost of the project was ₹25 crore and it has facilities such as lifts and escalators. This subway will ensure safety of commuters at this junction and prevent accidents,” said a senior DLF official, adding that a survey conducted by them in 2024 had revealed that every day around 10,000 pedestrians crossed the road at Shankar Chowk.

The work in Shankar Chowk pedestrian underpass had started in February 2023 and it took almost two and half years for the project to get completed. The underpass is around 100 metres in length and it is constructed seven metres underneath the national highway. “It was a difficult project as there were a number of utilities along both sides of the national highway. Large number of industrial workers and office goers will use the underpass to cross the highway,” said the official.

Apart from building the subway, the company has also proposed to Haryana government to take up the construction of an underpass from the Moulsari Avenue road towards the extreme left of the highway towards Delhi to reduce traffic congestion at Shankar Chowk.

Apart from this, the developer has also proposed the construction of three underpasses connecting its new projects DLF Downtown and DLF Mall of India with Moulsari Avenue road, which will allow these vehicles to travel either towards Gurugram or Delhi seamlessly.