NH-8 mess finds Four-point solution
NEW DELHI: In accordance with the rising traffic mayhem on NH-8, caused because of the development of the Airport Express line along the highway, the traffic police have suggested a four-point design to block the stretch. After a careful traffic study of the area, the plan was submitted to the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning & Engineering) Centre (UTTIPEC) for its perusal. According to this plan the construction of a one-way flyover, two rotaries and widening of the road would be undertaken.
As per Additional commissioner of police (traffic) – Anil Shukla, huge traffic snarls had been reported on the arterial highway as it carves into the chief carriageway, compressing the road width of the corridor from the seven lanes located near the Dhaula Kuan Metro station to 2.5 lanes in front of Subroto Park crossing due to the ensuing construction of the Metro line.
Due to the reduction in road width a funnel effect is created near the stretch starting from Subroto Park to RR Hospital, peak hour traffic congestions have developed and grown on the stretch due to the ill-effects of the funnel effect.
In a written proposal to the UTTIPEC, traffic police has suggested the construction of a one-way flyover for traffic moving from Gurgaon towards Dhaula Kuan. This proposal would permit the traffic to skip two red lights located at the crossings of Subroto Park and Station Road. The situation has turned so dire, that the red light has to be constantly operated on a manual basis by traffic personnel.
Split rotaries under the flyover too has been sought as a solution by the cops. Additionally, they have also suggested that the NH-8 carriageway towards Dhaula Kuan from Gurgaon should be widened from 2.5 lanes to 3.5 lanes and that the central verge be shifted towards this carriageway. The width of the other carriageway can be maintained by increasing it accordingly. High tension wires on that side should be transferred underground.
In accordance with the local traffic cops, the motor traffic which turns left from Gurgaon towards Janakpuri is minimal, because of this the traffic flow would not be conflicting with the traffic flowing from the split rotary which also turns on Station Road, as the bulk of traffic from Gurgaon would pass straight over the flyover.
A possibility of traffic congestion near the foot of the flyover where traffic from Station Road turning left to NH-8 may come in conflict with traffic descending from the proposed flyover is anticipated by traffic cops. In order to rectify the same, widening of the left slip road from Station Road to NH-8 has been suggested as a result to avoid such problems in the foreseeable future.
National Highway Authority of India initiated the expansion of this slip, earlier in 2008, however, it never came into being.The compendious proposal would be perused by urban developers and traffic experts at the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning & Engineering) Center to find long-term solutions and check its feasibility.
