The New Year promises to bring a gift for Millennium City residents. Two underpasses on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway — at Signature Tower and Rajiv Chowk — are likely to be opened by January 10. Traffic trials are expected to start in the next few days at both. A third underpass at Iffco Chowk, though, is yet to overcome the land hurdle.
All three are being constructed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to decongest the expressway and ensure smooth traffic flow from one side of the city to another. By the time they are finished, the mammoth project will have cost the exchequer Rs 1,000 crore, including Rs 734.45 crore for just the underpasses and another Rs 300 crore for related works. Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Union minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari had inaugurated the project in September 2016.
The Iffco Chowk flyover and underpass project alone will cost Rs 285.12 crore. It will have a bridge, ramp and underpass. The Signature Tower project will cost Rs 215.01 crore, and comprise of a roundabout towards Maharana Pratap Chowk in addition to the underpass. The underpass at Rajeev Chowk will come at a cost of Rs 234.32 crore.
Deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh said though deadline for completion of the project is March 2018, the main tunnel of the two underpasses at Signature Tower and Rajiv Chowk will be made operational by January 10. “Traffic trials will start in the next few days, and they will become operational by January 10,” said Singh, adding that foot-overbridges and lanes for non-motorised transport are expected to be ready by end-January.
He added that impediments related to land acquisition for construction of slip roads alongside the underpasses have been resolved. “There were some issues regarding the announcement of the compensation award for land acquisition. It has been resolved, so we’ll take possession of the land soon,” said Singh, adding there were no legal hurdles in the acquisition.
