NHAI to build bridge, 2 kms road to ease traffic at Masani Barrage

NHAI plans to widen the Masani barrage bridge on the Delhi-Jaipur highway to ease congestion and improve safety with a new three-lane road.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) plans to widen the Masani barrage bridge – a perennial choke-point for those heading to Jaipur from Delhi or Gurugram – by adding another lane and constructing a two-kilometre-long road heading towards Jaipur in order to ensure smooth traffic movement and reduce congestion on the busy highway near Rewari, officials said.

They added that land has already been identified for the project, and the authority will soon present its requirements to the state government. (HT)

They added that land has already been identified for the project, and the authority will soon present its requirements to the state government.

Currently, the Delhi-Jaipur highway at the Masani barrage branches (around 45km from both Gurugram and Neemrana) into two spurs – on the side that heads from Jaipur to Delhi, this is a three-lane road that becomes a bridge and crossed the barrage; while on the Delhi to Jaipur side, it is a two-lane road and bridge. The latter, officials explained, ends up becoming a choke-point due to the highway converging into just two lanes.

“A new three-lane road, approximately 2-km long, is planned from Delhi to Jaipur at the Masani Barrage on the Delhi-Jaipur Highway. The existing road is narrow, causing traffic jams and the risk of road accidents. This step has been taken to ensure the safety of motorists. We have also identified land owned by the state forest department which would be required for construction of the road. Once the land is available, the process to start construction will begin,” said a senior NHAI official aware of the matter.

The road has been planned to start near the barrage from Delhi-Jaipur side from where it will cross the Masani Barrage and join the Delhi-Jaipur highway. “Currently, the vehicles coming from Jaipur have three lanes to traverse while vehicles from Delhi to Jaipur have only two lanes and this narrow road leads to congestion. We want to remove this bottleneck,” said the official.

NHAI officials stated that the Sohna-Rewari highway (NH-919) also intersects the Delhi-Jaipur highway, causing significant traffic congestion, particularly during peak hours, due to high local and interstate traffic movement towards Jaipur and Rewari.

Apart from the proposed road and bridge at Masani barrage, the highway authority identified eight unsafe spots during its traffic survey. NHAI has now decided to implement engineering and other road safety interventions at these intersections to prevent accidents. The interactions include Bilaspur, Pachgaon, Rampura Chowk, Dharuhera, Sidhrawali Cut, NSG Manesar, Vatika Flyover, and Polytechnic College Manesar.

Officials added that they issued directions to the contractor concerned to install road studs, information boards, solar panels, road markings, speed marking boards, white stripes, and speed limit information boards to improve vehicle and commuter safety on this stretch.

“Improving safety on the highway is a continuous process and we will continue to take steps to prevent accidents. This work will be completed in the next three months,” the highway officials said.