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No solution to traffic snarls at Signature Tower crossing
Rampant traffic rule violations and increasing vehicular volume at the Signature Tower crossing have foiled all bids to decongest the busy intersection. Leena Dhankhar reports.
Rampant traffic rule violations and increasing vehicular volume at the Signature Tower crossing have foiled all bids to decongest the busy intersection.
Though the administration had built slip roads to ease snarls here, commuters still spend about 30 minutes here, on an average. The volume of intra-city traffic, growing at a rate of about 10% every year, has also made the situation worse.
According to an unofficial estimate, about 1.20 lakh vehicles use this crossing daily.
The Signature Tower intersection is located on the Gurgaon Expressway and it connects the Huda City Centre Metro station with the MDI roundabout on MG Road, both areas that witness traffic congestion. During peak traffic hours in the morning and evening, traffic police personnel monitor the intersection well but provide no solution to the long jams here daily.
"There is always a two-kilometre-long traffic jam here despite the newly-made slip roads on both sides of the HUDA Gymkhana," Vandana Singh, a daily commuter, told HT. Many motorists are also seen driving on the wrong side as it saves them time, added Singh. Pedestrians and cyclists in the middle of speeding vehicles is another problem area.
Widened roads and new slip roads have failed to mitigate the chaos at the Signature Tower crossing. Commuters also blame mismanagement of the traffic signal that is manned by about four traffic police personnel.
"We need an underpass here and this issue has been discussed at several meetings," said Maheshwar Dayal, DCP (east).
The traffic police, on the other hand, claimed to have raised the issue with the local civic bodies - Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) and Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG).
The MCG had even proposed a one-kilometre-long flyover that would connect the Signature Tower junction with Atul Kataria roundabout via MDI roundabout. The project, however, is awaiting approval from the state government.
Huda had also planned an underpass at this junction but official formalities have been moving at a snail's pace in this case.
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