Noida set for upgrade

A recent report of the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) said that if a person commutes five days a week during an average 30-year career, he spends more than eight years in traffic jams in Noida. Darpan Singh reports.

A recent report of the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) said that if a person commutes five days a week during an average 30-year career, he spends more than eight years in traffic jams in Noida.

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Road infrastructure has failed to keep pace with the growing population, the report said.

To tackle the problem, Noida authority has, for the first time, planned six elevated roads, besides 10 underpasses and overpasses (flyovers).

Noida chairman Mohinder Singh said formalities for construction of elevated roads and underpasses will be completed in three months.

While a flyover or a limited-stretch overhead construction bypasses traffic at certain points, an elevated road is a bigger endeavour erected on pillars as an alternative to an entire stretch underneath.

One of the elevated roads will be constructed from Sector 60 to NH 24, which separates Noida and Ghaziabad. A clover leaf — an interchange for separation of traffic flow from different directions — will be constructed at NH 24 to avoid fatal merging of traffic coming from Noida, Ghaziabad and Delhi.

AK Goyal, senior project officer (maintenance), said, "Four consultants have come forward with proposals. By the end of this month, one will be finalised. Work will start early next year."

Bidding has been done for three flyovers. The new links will be constructed according to technical suggestions given by a government of India consultant, RITES.

"Haywire traffic has for long been one of the major problems in Noida. Not only does it hit normal life on a daily basis, the degree of fatality has forced planners to introduce new plans," NP Singh, Noida deputy chief executive officer, said.

But with more and more flyovers, pedestrians at many locations have no option but to wriggle through speeding vehicles.
Singh said bridges will also be built to tackle their problems. Proposed plan