Ludhiana: Bridge repair work halts traffic on Dholewal road

Director of Samrala Chowk–Ferozepur Road elevated road project, NHAI, Krishan Sachdeva said for the convenience of traffic, one lane on both sides of the road has been made operational. He added that the winter season was the best time to fix the Dholewal bridge in Ludhiana

Traffic went for a toss after National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) started the maintenance work on Dholewal bridge on Monday.

Traffic jam at Cheema Chowk due to ongoing repair work of the Dholewal bridge in Ludhiana. (Harvinder Singh/HT)

Director of Samrala Chowk–Ferozepur Road elevated road project, NHAI, Krishan Sachdeva said one lane on both sides of the road will remain closed for one-and-a-half month for the replacement of the expansion joint.

He said for the convenience of traffic, one lane on both sides of the road has been made operational. He added that the winter season was the best time to fix the bridge.

The move led to a massive traffic jam on both sides of the elevated road. Long queues of vehicles were witnessed on both sides of the road during the peak hours in the morning and evening.

Randeep Singh, a law student, who was commuting by bus, said, “I was heading from Chandigarh and our bus remained stuck in traffic for nearly half-an-hour.”

A commuter, Puja Sharma, who works in a bank, said the authorities should have diverted traffic from alternative routes to avoid chaos on the elevated road.