Speed limit of Gurugram section of MG Road to be reviewed

The speed limit on the accident-prone Gurugram section of the Mehrauli-Gurgaon (MG) Road will soon be revised.

The speed limit on the accident-prone Gurugram section of the Mehrauli-Gurgaon (MG) Road will soon be revised.

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Ever since its formation in the 1980s, barring the Mall Mile stretch between Sikanderpur metro station and IFFCO Chowk, the eight-kilometre long MG Road has never had a set speed limit. In fact, it was only two years ago that Gurugram traffic police imposed a 50kmph limit on the Mall Mile.

The issue of imposing the speed limit was brought forward by the Raahigiri foundation during a meeting of district officials on Wednesday. Subsequently, Prashant Panwar, additional deputy commissioner, who was chairing the meeting, directed Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) to review the speed limit in accordance with their comprehensive mobility plan (CMP) measures.

As per data from Haryana Vision Zero (HVZ), 31 fatalities were recorded due to accidents on the Gurugram section of MG Road between 2017 and 2019. Of these 25 deaths were due to accidents on the stretch between Aravalli Biodiversity Chowk and IFFCO Chowk, and six between IFFCO Chowk and Mahavir Chowk.

On an average, the road, including the stretch in Delhi, serves around 200,000 daily vehicles.

Panwar further said that GMDA is expected to convene a meeting in mid-October where the speed limit issue will be raised and, depending on the response, the next step would be taken.

Besides MG Road, GMDA was also directed to review the 80kmph limit on the 13-kilometre stretch between IMT Chowk-Bilaspur Chowk on national highway 48 (NH-48).

As per HVZ data, there have been 94 fatalities due to accidents on the stretch between in the three years too, the highest for any single stretch in the entire district.

“Both these stretches have become infamous for road fatalities. During our fatal accidents review of both the stretches, we found that speeding was the main cause of accidents and fatalities on this stretch. We highlighted this issue in the road safety meeting and asked officials to reconsider and implement better speed limits on both these stretches,” said Sarika Panda Bhatt, co-founder of Raahgiri foundation.

RK Mittal, engineer, mobility division, GMDA said that the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi, has already asked to study the roads across the district and recommend speed limits based on the traffic volume and road design.

“As part of our comprehensive mobility plan, SPA has already been directed to study each stretch in Gurugram and sub-categorise them into appropriate speed limits. Once they submit, the report, their recommendations would be reviewed in the GMDA meeting and accordingly decisions on the next step would be taken,” said Mittal.

Besides the issue of speed limit, work by NHAI in regards to black spots were also reviewed in the meeting.

As per Raahgiri foundation officials, a 500-metre stretch is labelled as a “black spot” if more than five road fatalities have occurred there in a three-year period.

In this regard, NHAI officials said that reflectors have been installed and the non-motorised underpass at IFFCO Chowk have been cleaned. Further, the road has been repaired on the sector 30/31 exit and street lights have been fixed and added for better illumination. At Sirhaul toll, high mast lights have been installed, and signages have been fixed while the foot-over-bridge at Khandsa Chowk has also been completed.

They further said that engineering work on Shankar Chowk, Jharsa Chowk, Atlas Chowk, and Signature Towers is ongoing and a field visit by senior officials of the NHAI would be conducted at these points on October 5.