Gurgaon: Lane driving eases traffic flow at Chauma railway crossing

Police said volume of traffic at Chauma crossing has increased since the Sarai railway crossing was rendered off-limits to commuters due to maintenance work

The Gurgaon traffic police along with Road Safety Officers(RSO) launched a week-long awareness drive about lane driving at Chauma Railway crossing in New Palam Vihar to spread traffic awareness. The crossing had seen congestions throughout the day and commuters took around one hour to cross the stretch during peak hours.

Lane driving has made a difference to the movement of traffic at Chauma crossing. (Sanjeev Verma/HT)

Taking note of the snarls on the crossing, the RSOs mooted the plan to the traffic officials on Monday, a traffic police official said.

According to the police, the volume of traffic has increased on the stretch after the Sarai railway crossing was closed for maintenance on Sunday by the railway department.

The Bajghera railway crossing has been closed due to the construction of a railway over bridge (ROB) over the last one year and commuters have been using Chauma and Sarai crossings instead, leading to congestion.

The crossing connects to sectors 21,22,23, Dwarka Expressway, New Palam Vihar, Najafgarh and Bahadurgarh.

“Vehicles had been taking more than one hour to cross the stretch during peak hours and commuters had been complaining to us about it. We had visited the spot and monitored the traffic flow for five days before implementing the lane driving,” Navdeep Singh, RSO, said.

Since the stretch is narrow, implementation of lane driving is the only solution to the recurring problems, said traffic officials.

Deputy commissioner of police (Traffic) Simardeep Singh pointed out that the commuters should have a sense of road discipline or else, any awareness drive or campaigns will not work.

“The commuters need to adhere to lane driving and should have the patience to cross the stretch. Else, it will always be congested, as commuters will have trouble crossing this stretch and the flow of traffic will be smooth as well,” Singh said.

Thousands of commuters use the crossing and the pressure of traffic will be high on the Chauma crossing till work on the Sarai railway crossing is over.

“It used to take more than twenty minutes to cross the railway crossing every day. However, on Monday, it took me hardly five minutes as motorists did not jump lanes. We should have traffic cops deployed on the stretch to ensure smooth traffic flow,” Yashesh Yadav, a commuter and a resident of Mahindra Aura, Sector 110, said.

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The volume of traffic on the stretch will be reduce significantly once the construction work gets over at Bajghera railway crossing. Residents of Palam Vihar and sectors 21, 22, 23 and 23A will also enjoy better connectivity to Dwarka Expressway and New Palam Vihar.

The Bajghera railway crossing will soon be upgraded from a single to double barrier crossing and the width of the same will be raised from 7.5 metres to 11 metres.