Gurgaon: U-turn at Hero Honda Chowk reduces travel time

It is expected to bring the 30-minute travel time from Rajiv Chowk to Kherki Daula toll plaza down to 15 minutes

The newly opened U-turn on the Hero Honda Chowk on national highway (NH) 8 is expected to halve the travel time on the seven-km stretch from Rajiv Chowk to Kherki Daula toll plaza, bringing it down to 15 minutes.

The U-turn at Hero Honda Chowk was opened by the NHAI for a 24-hour public trial on Friday, which proved to be successful. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which constructed the U-turn, opened it to the public for a 24-hour trial on Friday. After the trial was found successful, the authority erected an overheard barrier to restrict heavy vehicles taller than 3.5 metres from taking the U-turn.

“The U-turn will be used for traffic coming from Jaipur. Vehicles that have to cross the highway after passing through the Kherki Daula toll plaza can now take the U-turn at Hero Honda Chowk. They will not need to go to Rajiv Chowk to take a U-turn. That is why it has been built some 50 metres away from the centre of the under-construction flyover towards Kherki Daula,” said a senior NHAI official.

Traffic coming from Sector 33/34, Subhash Chowk and Rajiv Chowk can also use this turn.

“I work at Infocity in Sector 34 and on my way back in the evening, I can now take this exit to cross the highway and take a right and then left towards Sector 10. I will not need to travel three kilometres on the wrong side on the highway’s service lane towards Rajiv Chowk and then take the underpass,” said Sunil Chauhan, a Sector 9A resident.

HT had reported about the U-turn on May 12. The Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) had asked NHAI to build it on May 11.

“It is to help in a big way. The U-turn will save commuters’ time and distance travelled and will also decongest traffic at Kherki Daula toll. We are to connect the Southern Peripheral Road (SPR) and the Central Peripheral Road (CPR) somewhere close to Kherki Daula, which will add to the traffic volume. However, the U-turn will ease the traffic till the time the under-construction cloverleaf flyover at Hero Honda Chowk and underpass are opened for traffic,” said Yashpal Yadav, Huda administrator.