Chaos likely from January 1 as Ashram flyover to shut; scant mitigation steps in place

Large parts of the national capital in south, south-east and central Delhi are set to reel under traffic mayhem come the new year, with the Public Works Department (PWD) confirming it will shut the Ashram flyover on January 1 for the last leg of construction works meant to fix one of the most congested stretches in the city.

The flyover, which allows traffic on the crucial Ring Road to bypass cross traffic on Mathura Road, will be shut for 45 days so that it can be linked with an extension built around 50m further — a plan experts warned will lead to chaos onto other stretches around the intersection because of lack of preparation.

Experts also warned that the 45-day target is ambitious, and will likely not be enough.

Senior PWD officials on Thursday confirmed that the crucial flyover will be shut from New Year’s Day, while Delhi traffic police officers said that an advisory will soon be issued to intimate commuters of the plan and prompt them to take alternative routes.

Special commissioner of police (traffic) SS Yadav said, “PWD has handed us an advisory, which we are modifying to add additional diversions for traffic towards Moolchand and Barapullah.”

Around 350,000 vehicles use the intersection of Mathura Road and Ring Road every day. Several thousand more use the flyover, and much of this volume will now bleed on to the already choked crossing, apart from other key arterial stretches, most of which are already buckling under the extant traffic volume.

Further, traffic volume is usually higher than normal around New Year’s Day.

As a result, said experts and traffic police officers, Ring Road, Mathura Road, Outer Ring Road, DND Flyway, Lajpat Rai Road, and the Barapullah road, apart from severely hampering commutes to and from Noida and Ghaziabad.

For the last couple of weeks, PWD officers said they have been working with traffic police to ensure a transition that minimises snarls and bottlenecks and leaves commuters enough time to take alternative routes. However, authorities have effectively given commuters just two days’ notice, before implementing a measure that will have ripples across a much wider area.

Further, experts said that key steps to placate the situation have still not been taken. Roads around Ashram Chowk have not been relaid, carriageways have not been widened, footpaths are still to be significantly improved and real-time, live message boards to inform commuters have still not been put up, they said.

S Velmurugan, chief scientist at the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) called the 45-day window “unrealistic”. “The flyover will have to be closed for more than two months. Work on the integration will be tricky, as engineers will have to ensure the perfect spread of weight across the two structures,” he said.

The effects of the closure will be felt across the city, added Velmurugan.

“It will have severe repercussions on traffic as alternative routes are not available. The stretch along this route will take severe load at Ring road, Captain Gaur Marg, Sriniwaspuri approach and spill over may be felt till Chirag Dilli,” he said.

Professor Sewa Ram, professor of transport planning in the School of Planning and Architecture, said the approach road at the surface level at the intersection is “too narrow” and will not be able to bear the load of the flyover.

“PWD should explore ways to widen these approach roads at the intersection along the flyover ramp. The diversion plan will need to take some load off these points at locations like Defence Colony, Moolchand and points as far away as 5 km from this intersection,” he said

A PWD official said the agency has implemented most of the suggestions the police made in the run-up to the closure.

“We have implemented most of the suggestions the traffic police made, like creating U-turns, installing new red lights, signages, and advisory boards from Lajpat Nagar to Sarai Kale Khan, as well as deploying 50 civil defence volunteers to assist vehicular traffic. The rest will be in place before January 1. The site in-charge and traffic police officers have been meeting regularly to work out the minute details so that the transition is smooth,” said a PWD official.

Special commissioner of police (traffic) SS Yadav confirmed the agency’s claims.

“PWD has implemented around 90% of the suggestions while work is in progress to fix the other suggestions we had made. They have fixed the signal. They are building the footpaths. The carriageway for commuters from CV Raman Marg towards Sarai Kale Khan is also 90% complete. More than125 signage has been made while more are being printed. This will be placed on the roads to alert commuters. We will soon issue an advisory for commuters about the traffic restriction and diversion.”

However, a spot check by HT on Thursday evening found that the carriageway at CV Raman Marg was still to be built, and the traffic signal had not been put up.

Residents and commuters were not convinced these steps will work, even as they criticised authorities for the inadequate “two-day notice” for the closure.

S Khan, general secretary of the Pocket A Sukhdev Vihar Residents Welfare Association, said the road from Ashram Chowk towards New Friends Colony is in a bad shape and PWD should fix the potholes otherwise it may lead to traffic snarls. “The traffic from AIIMS to Lajpat Nagar should be diverted through Sabji Mandi to reach New Friends Colony, Jamia, Okhla, by putting up signages. It will reduce congestion,” said Khan.

Another commuter at the intersection on Thursday said the agency should have given people more time to prepare. “Two days’ notice is not enough, especially when it’s New Year’s time,” said the commuter, who asked not to be named.