Noida’s Sector 71 underpass now open for motorists

The underpass will also benefit newly developed group housing societies in Noida’s Sector 51, Hoshiyarpur, Sectors 74 to 79 as well as Greater Noida West. It will provide a smooth ride to at least 50,000 daily commuters, said officials

The Noida authority opened the sector 51/71 six-lane underpass project on Sunday evening to the public, offering seamless connectivity to commuters travelling between Noida and Greater Noida west.

Both sides of the underpass in Noida’s Sector 71 has been opened for motorists. (Sunil Ghosh/HT photo)

“We have opened both sides of the underpass for public use. We only need to complete the painting work, that will be over in the next 15 days,” said Mukesh Vaish, project engineer of Noida authority.

The underpass will now facilitate a smooth ride for commuters over Vikas Marg, the arterial road linking Noida to Greater Noida West as well as Vishwakarma Marg, which connects the Noida expressway in the city with Indirapuram in Ghaziabad.

The underpass will also benefit newly developed group housing societies in Noida’s Sector 51, Hoshiyarpur, Sectors 74 to 79 as well as Greater Noida West. It will provide a smooth ride to at least 50,000 daily commuters, said officials.

In June 2019, the authority started work on the 780 metre long underpass corridor at an estimated cost of ₹59 crore, setting December 2020 as the deadline for completion. Since then, the project missed two more deadlines -- March 2021 and June 2021.

One of the key traffic intersections of Noida, this spot in sector 51/71 used to witness long traffic snarls in the absence of a seamless underpass. Now, commuters travelling from Noida to Greater Noida, Ghaziabad side to Dadri road will not have to wait at this junction. The underpass will also ease commuting for residents who travel within the city.

However, residents of Sector 51 are still not happy with the opening of the underpass because some work on their side is yet to be completed.

“The authority is yet to complete slab work next to the Sector 51 corner. We will not be able to take a U-turn to reach Sector 51’s blocks D, E, F and Hoshiyarpur above this underpass. We will have to drive longer and face congestion till the work on this corner is completed,” said Sanjiv Kumar , general secretary of Sector 51 residents’ welfare association.

“We will complete remaining work in next four to five days and ensure all the pending issues are resolved,” said Vaish.