Second arm for one-way flyovers

While a feasibility study to construct a flyover parallel to the controversial single carriageway flyover at Rao Tula Ram Marg crossing has already been commissioned, Delhi Public Works Department minister Raj Kumar Chauhan has asked his department to appoint a consultant to look into the Seelampur flyover in east Delhi.

They were built as they were the most cost-effective option to handle traffic.

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However, with the number of vehicles increasing at a steady pace and single carriageway flyovers becoming incapable of handling the growing volume of traffic, the Delhi government has started exploring other options.

It is thinking of constructing parallel flyovers to the current ones to ensure that the vehicles moving in the other direction do not get stuck on congested traffic intersections.

While a feasibility study to construct a flyover parallel to the controversial single carriageway flyover at Rao Tula Ram Marg crossing has already been commissioned, Delhi Public Works Department minister Raj Kumar Chauhan has asked his department to appoint a consultant to look into the Seelampur flyover in east Delhi.

Two single carriageway flyovers near Punjabi Bagh along the Ring Road are next in line.

“Single carriageway flyovers should not have been constructed at all. Traffic has grown enormously and they have now lost their relevance. All new flyovers that we are now building are double carriageways. I recently inspected congested road stretches in south and east Delhi and have asked the officials to appoint consultants to look into single carriageway flyovers and suggest a solution,” Chauhan said. “Traffic jams are a big problem on the two flyovers near Punjabi Bagh too.”

About 15 single carriageway flyovers have been constructed on three-armed traffic intersections in Delhi in the past one decade. While traffic moves smoothly on some flyovers, several others have stared witnessing long traffic snarls. These flyovers cost about 60% of the cost of a normal double carriageway flyover.

Experts, however, said single carriageway flyovers were acceptable at a T-point where there was enough space for vehicles moving in the other direction.

PK Sikdar, former director, Central Road Research Institute, said the Rao Tula Ram Marg flyover failed because the road space was limited and the volume of right-turning traffic was huge.