U-turn ahead of Kherki Daula toll plaza compounds traffic issues

Officials said that a sudden rush of traffic leads to congestion at this spot as hundreds of vehicles take the U-turn to avoid paying the toll, leaving those heading towards Delhi with no space to move forward.

A U-turn ahead of the Kherki Daula toll plaza on the Manesar side is adding to the congestion at the toll plaza as a large number of vehicles going towards Gurugram have to wait for commuters from the other side to take the U-turn. Officials said that a sudden rush of traffic leads to congestion at this spot as hundreds of vehicles take the U-turn to avoid paying the toll, leaving those heading towards Delhi with no space to move forward.

Kherki Daula toll plaza, which is generally a major bottleneck, saw passage of few vehicles on Sunday. (Yogesh Kumar/HT Photo)

Officials of the Millennium City Expressway Private Limited (MCEPL), the concessionaire for the expressway, said that there are continuous hold-ups at the turn as a large number of vehicles take a right turn towards the service road. “The traffic police will have to find a solution to this sudden rush of vehicles. It causes heavy jams during peak hour,” an official said.

Nasib Singh, sub-inspector, Gurugram traffic police, said that they have deployed adequate personnel at the U-turn but the traffic flow is very high, due to which congestion is unavoidable. “We will deploy more personnel during the peak hours but there is a need to improve the condition of the road surface as often, vehicles get stuck due to large potholes, causing jams,” he said.

Vikas Mittal, senior manager, National Highways Authority of India, said that they are relaying the roads on the highway and issue of traffic jams at U-turn will be taken up with the authorities. “Several steps are being taken to improve the movement of vehicles, and also provide facilities to commuters,” said Mittal.

NHAI officials, however, said that U-turn is beyond the Kherki Daula toll plaza and is not in their jurisdiction and they will take up this matter with NHAI, Jaipur.

Vineet Malik, who works in an industrial unit in Manesar said that congestion has increased since the toll payment was made digital. “We hoped that digital payment would resolve the delays but several people stop the traffic as they refuse to pay double the penalty,” he said.