Grounded by traffic at flyover central

Traffic vaults over four flyovers along this well-endowed stretch and dips gracefully with one underpass: you would think life in the seven-km-long lane is a zip-through, reports Atul Mathur.

Traffic vaults over four flyovers along this well-endowed stretch and dips gracefully with one underpass: you would think life in the seven-km-long lane is a zip-through.

HT Image

Think more like a crawl-along.

At peak hour, it takes more than an hour to go from Ashram crossing to Safdarjung Hospital along the Ring Road in south Delhi — one of Delhi’s most congested stretches.

This after the Delhi government has spent more than Rs 200 crore to clear the corridor — the latest decongestant being the underpass at Moolchand intersection (opened in 2006).

poor planning

Traffic experts attribute the problem to piecemeal planning that only shifts congestion from one point to another.

“There is a need to adopt a holistic approach to find a solution for the entire corridor,” said S.N. Shrivastava, joint commissioner of police (traffic).

About 1.50 lakh vehicles take this stretch every day — 77 per cent of which are private ones. According to a RITES study, vehicles exceed the road capacity by at least 25 per cent.

The Ring Road also cuts across some of the Capital’s busiest commercial hubs: Lajpat Nagar and South Ex.

What’s more, inter-city traffic between Noida and Gurgaon and Faridabad and Noida, too, passes through the junctions of Ashram.

“A large volume of traffic from Noida merges on this road,” said Shrivastava.