Chock-a-block

Gurgaon resident GB Singh, an entrepreneur, spends about 40 minutes every morning and every evening covering a stretch of five kilometers between his office in Udyog Vihar and his house in DLF City, reports Sanjeev K Ahuja.

Gurgaon resident GB Singh, an entrepreneur, spends about 40 minutes every morning and every evening covering a stretch of five kilometers between his office in Udyog Vihar and his house in DLF City.

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“About five years ago, it took me 20-25 minutes — there were traffic jams even then. But now, the traffic volume in Gurgaon has gone up and jams have become bigger. So, I take about 40 minutes on the same stretch and drive at the speed of 8 kmph,” said Singh.

JK Kukreja, who commutes between Manesar and DLF City in his Maruti Baleno car gets stuck at 42nd Milestone toll plaza for anything between 20 and 30 minutes. “All types of vehicles get mixed in the different lanes. I have the tag for non-stop fast lanes, but I find dozens of untagged vehicles on the same lane. If I speed after crossing the toll plaza, there are pedestrians crossing the expressway to slow me down. There are no foot-over-bridges,” he said.

Motorists said since the Gurgaon Expressway became operational, the traffic jams on arterial roads have also gone up. “Be it MG Road, Old Delhi Road, Sohna-Alwar Road, Sector 10 Road or the road connecting Southcity Crossing with MDI Chowk, all witness traffic jams. The local authorities have failed to widen the roads connecting the expressway,” said Mahesh Arora, a commuter.

A recent study, done by the Urban Mass Transit Company (UMTC) that is preparing the Integrated Mobility Plan for the Gurgaon-Manesar Urban Complex under Master Plan 2021, revealed that the average speed in the city was 23 kmph. It also said Gurgaon roads lacked signs boards and markings and most junctions were congested.

During the presentation, V.S. Singh, who handled the study, had said the city needed immediate improvement of junctions, widening of 400 kms of road into four and six lanes, footpaths, cycle lanes, eight foot-overbridges and underpasses, parking lots and bus rapid transit corridors by 2011.

The presentation also said that in phase II, the government would be required to spend around Rs 4,608 crore between 2011 and 2017.

Gurgaon Police Commissioner Mohinder Lal blamed the situation on faulty road engineering and poor infrastructure. “We miss the concept of road engineering that defines the width of roads, footpaths and design of crossings.”