Noida clears stalled elevated road project

The project—first conceived in 2012 and with its foundation stone laid by then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav in 2015—had been lying in limbo

NOIDA: The Noida authority has revived the elevated road project above master plan I road from the DND Flyway to Sector 57/58 to ease traffic congestion and improve connectivity to key areas such as Sectors 57, 58, 59, 65, and Mamura, officials said on Friday.

The elevated corridor is expected to reduce travel time from 40 minutes to just 10 minutes by eliminating traffic signals and bottlenecks. (Sunil Ghosh/HT file photo)

The project—first conceived in 2012 and with its foundation stone laid by then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav in 2015—had been lying in limbo. Now, Noida authority chief executive officer Lokesh M has given in-principle approval to it. A detailed project report (DPR) will soon be made for which the IIT-Roorkee has been engaged in the task to prepare a DPR and it will be submit in six months, they added.

The detailed project report (DPR) will include feasibility studies, route surveys, cost estimates, alignment and exit/entry among other details.

The elevated corridor is expected to reduce travel time from 40 minutes to just 10 minutes by eliminating traffic signals and bottlenecks.

“We will take this project to the next stage once the IIT Roorkee will submit the DPR. We have given in-principle approval to this project under our wider plan to decongest city roads, and make sure the commuters do not face trouble while negotiating the traffic,” the CEO said.

The authority has decided to revive this elevated road project due to the rise in vehicular pressure on this one of the key roads of the city that witness heavy traffic daily especially during the peak hours.

As the commuters from Delhi side enters Noida through DND they either take exit before Rajnigandha underpass or go towards sector 57/58 and the commuters going or coming from Ghaziabad also use this arterial road.

Due to the traffic signal at Noida Stadium, Chauda crossing and sector 12/22 T-point congestion they face huge bottlenecks. The authority had in 2012 decided to build this elevated so that the commuters do not have to waste time at these traffic signals, said officials.

But the authority delayed the work on this project because they started work and built an elevated road above Master Plan-II road, said officials.

As per new design approved in October, 2015 this elevated road project was to be above master plan I road between sector 19/2 -19/3 and 12/22-56 T-point. In 2012, this was proposed to begin from sector 19/2-19/3 to Choda crossing in sector 12, said officials.

“For the last more than a decade the Noida authority has been talking of building an elevated road above master plan I road but all in vain so far. They should do town planning for at least 100 years before working on any project. They do work in haste and sometimes they take too much time in approvals. They should take quick decisions and solve the traffic congestion issues in a holistic manner rather than delaying the work on these important issues,” said Madhvi Singh, a resident of sector 74.

“The elevated above master plan I road is a very good project because it will ease traffic pangs for the thousands of commuters using this stretch. As of now in sector 2, 3, 19, 21, 12, 22, 55, 56 and 57 among others commuters face problems particularly during peak hours. Once this is built it will offer seamless commute. But the authority will have to take care of the sector 57 and 58 roads because it will shift the vehicular pressure there as the commuters would reach smoothly there,” said Atul Gupta, senior town plannet and architect and president of UP architect and town planning association’s Noida chapter.