Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Ghaziabad to Delhi Now Expect Very Smooth Riding

For those who take the NH-24 to commute from the upcoming swanky suburbs in Ghaziabad to the capital, Ghazipur crossing is the biggest bottleneck. Not only do they have to suffer in the bumper-to-bumper, long snarls at the crossing but also bear the stench emanating from the adjacent Ghazipur landfill site.

But the agonizing wait will partially end on Monday when the Public Works Department (PWD) throws open one carriageway from Ghaziabad to Delhi of the flyover coming up at the crossing. ‘‘One of the carriageways that will take traffic from Ghaziabad to Delhi will be opened to the public on Monday. The other carriageway will be opened by June 30,’’ PWD minister Raj Kumar Chauhan said, adding that the four-lane carriageway is approximately 770 meters long.

The project was conceptualized as part of the work aimed at improving infrastructure and easing traffic congestion before Commonwealth Games. The Ghazipur flyover is expected to ease the traffic flow to and from Ghaziabad. This route leads up to the Commonwealth Games Village site and hence it was felt that decongesting this route was important so that the inter-state traffic could flow easily allowing tourists to move in and out of the capital without much difficulty, senior officials explained.

Earlier, the underpass at the flyover was opened providing seamless traffic flow between Anand Vihar and Kalyanpuri.

That the project is a significant step towards decongesting the crucial crossing comes through in a survey conducted in 2002. It had found that during peak hours more than 7000 passenger car units use the crossing.

The pedestrian traffic is significant here considering that the survey then showed that in 12 hours nearly 6000 pedestrians use this crossing. Going by these figures, the pressure on the crossing has only increased manifold in the last eight years. Hence the need for a flyover, officials explained.

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