E-Paper
Jersey barrier arrangements at Shahid Hawaldar Singh Chowk, Faridabad Road cut travel time, reduce congestion
The jersey barriers have been placed at both these points over the past week to ensure there is signal-free travel in at least one direction. This reduces the convergence of vehicles and saves both wait time and travel time for commuters
Traffic police officials and commuters said that the placement of jersey barriers to demarcate lanes and block exits along key stretches leading to the Shahid Hawaldar Singh Chowk, and Gurgaon-Faridabad Road traffic signal, at the intersection with Rajesh Pilot Marg, has reduced congestion and travel time.
“The jersey barriers have been placed at both these points over the past week to ensure there is signal-free travel in at least one direction. This reduces the convergence of vehicles and saves both wait time and travel time for commuters,” Ravinder Singh Tomar, deputy commissioner police (DCP), traffic, Gurugram police, said.
The Shahid Hawaldar Singh Chowk on Ambedkar Road is one of the most congested spots in the city due to the convergence of traffic from St Thomas Marg, Golf Course Road, Golf Course Extension Road, Huda City Centre and Kanhai traffic signal. It takes commuters nearly 15-20 minutes to navigate the section during peak traffic hours.
To facilitate smooth vehicular flow, traffic police have placed jersey barriers along the carriageway of the road from the Kanhai traffic signal. Commuters have to take a compulsory left turn towards Huda City Centre and then take a U-turn to head towards St Thomas Marg or Golf Course Extension Road.
From January to March 2020, and again from October 2020 to April 2021, the traffic police had placed jersey barriers at the spot. However, these were removed due to the low traffic volume as the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.
At the Rajesh Pilot Marg/ Gurgaon-Faridabad Road signal, jersey barriers have been placed in a manner to facilitate signal-free commute on the leftmost lane of the carriageway of the stretch from the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road towards Gwal Pahari. The arrangement ensures that the vehicles turning right from Rajesh Pilot Marg do not converge with the traffic heading straight towards Gwal Pahari.
“Earlier, I used to get stuck at the signal for five to 10 minutes. Now, I travel straight through. The jersey barrier arrangement has saved me around 15-20 minutes of daily travelling time,” Gaurav Bansal, a resident of DLF Phase-1, who works in Faridabad, said.
Tomar said that on Sunday, the traffic police will place jersey barriers below the Vatika flyover, the first flyover on the National Highway-48 after the Kherki Daula toll, on a trial basis. The junction below the flyover is locally known as Next Vatika Chowk.
