Highway authority goes vertical to tackle traffic mess at Dhaula Kuan

An eight-lane elevated road may come up to ease the traffic on National Highway 8 between Dhaula Kuan interchange and Parade Crossing, reports Sanjeev K Ahuja.

An eight-lane elevated road may come up to ease the traffic on National Highway 8 between Dhaula Kuan interchange and Parade Crossing.

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The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has proposed the 2.5-km-long elevated road to provide a smooth drive for the airport traffic and the Gurgaon traffic.

The traffic volume on the road, at present, is an average of 1.2 lakh vehicles per day.

The authority has submitted a feasibility study on the project to the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning and Engineering) Centre for approval. It has also written to the Delhi Government urging it to take over the project citing the fact that the road handles a lot of city traffic.

The feasibility report, done by a private consultancy firm Stup Consultants, suggested an eight-lane elevated stretch alongside the under-construction Metro Airport Expressway Line which runs parallel to the existing highway here.

The proposed road aims to bail out the airport traffic and the Gurgaon and Jaipur-bound long-distance traffic from Janak Puri traffic or those heading for the Army Hospital or the Subroto Park Auditorium.

This portion of the national highway — 3 kms long — connects Dhaula Kuan interchange with the elevated Gurgaon Expressway starting at Rao Tula Ram Marg Crossing. The elevated road will only be 2.5 kms long and end before the point where the elevated Metro line crosses the road.

The NHAI has written to Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta for taking over the project. If the government turns it down, it would have to go ahead on its own, said an NHAI official not authorised to speak to the media.

The Proposal

Traffic from Expressway and from Sardar Patel Marg, Ring Road, Karol Bagh and Nariana converge at Dhaula Kuan resulting in long traffic jams.

NHAI sources said the study has suggested eight-lane straight elevated road without entry/exit routes or cloverleafs.

The NHAI has written to the Delhi Government for taking over the proposed project.