Bus corridor part-II

Govt okays two more BRT corridors: Karawal Nagar to Games Village and Moolchand to Jehangirpuri, reports Arul Mathur.

Taking its ambitious Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project ahead in full steam, the Delhi Government on Tuesday decided to take up two more corridors - from Moolchand Hospital to Jehangirpuri along Ring Road and from Karawal Nagar to Commonwealth Games Village in East Delhi.

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Taking lessons from the pilot project between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand, the government on Tuesday decided that lanes meant for other traffic will not be “encroached” upon and an additional lane will be created along the corridor.

“The government has taken a conscious effort to not repeat the mistakes made in the pilot project. Apart from creating an additional lane, all traffic intersections along the corridor will be remodelled to ensure maximum output of vehicles,” Delhi Transport Commissioner R.K. Verma said.

The decision was taken during Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s special review meeting for BRT.

“The decision to keep the bus lane in the middle or to the left of the corridor will depend on the ground situation and the volume of traffic and nature of traffic. There will be mixed traffic wherever we have space constraint. We have decided to involve all stakeholders, including the public, while deciding on the features of the corridors,” Verma said.

Though the project is not linked with the Commonwealth Games 2010, Delhi Government officials said efforts would be made to complete them in time and before the Games, if possible.

“For these two corridors, we have hired Spanish consultant Advance Logistics, which has designed BRT for over 30 countries. The company is expected to submit the detailed drawing and design by July this year,” Verma said.

The drawing and design will so take care of pedestrians and people living or working in residential and commercial localities along the corridor. Foot-over-bridges and subways with escalators will be constructed for pedestrians. “Focus will be on proper execution of the project at every stage which was missing when the pilot project was executed,” a Delhi government official said.

The 27-kilometre Moolchand - Jehangirpuri corridor will cost about Rs 282 crore while the 16-kilometre Karawal Nagar - Commonwealth Games Village corridor is pegged at Rs 180 crore.

The Karawal Nagar —Commonwealth Games corridor was to end at Shastri Park metro station depot earlier. It will now be extended up to the Games Village. The two corridors have been chosen keeping in mind the already wide roads and the number of people depending on public transport.