Proposed Three-tier solution will ease traffic on the Hero Honda Chowk
Travel to and from the Hero Honda Chowk in a Gurgaon is a nightmare and anyone who regularly uses the route would attest to it. The design of the intersection is inherently flawed and drainage problems cause heavy waterlogging during rains. The interface of Old Gurgaon Road and the expressway has, over the years, been mired in apathy as government has failed to come up with the effective solutions. The municipal corporation and the company that ran the expressway have long been passing the buck over who should solve the waterlogging problem.
Thankfully, to the delight of the commuters, on January 31, a solution finally emerged. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Haryana government approved a three-level crossing at Hero Honda Chowk. This would be an eight-lane flyover on the expressway and a four-lane underpass on Old Gurgaon Road while the existing road will be exclusively used by vehicles coming from the Delhi side that want to turn into Old Gurgaon Road. The solution also talks about having slip lanes for U-turns and right turns.
Response from MCG over the fixing of the drainage system is however, still pending. The NHAI is hoping for a speedy response from the MCG to take care of the drainage system so that they can proceed with building the flyover.
In the words of Ashok Kumar Sharma who is the project director and general manager of NHAI, “We are all set with our plan and expect to start building the flyover soon. The only issue that now remains is that the MCG should take care of the drainage system because we cannot start digging up the site without making sure that the intersection won’t get inundated.” The flyover is planned to start 450 metres before and after Hero Honda Chowk. Sharma further says, “This will decongest the area and provide unobstructed traffic flow. We will be asking for tenders by the first week of March.”
The other major issue that the underpass will resolve is that of a U-turn. With the absence of the cuts for U turns, at present, vehicles on the Old Gurgaon Road that want to cross the expressway and go to the other side have to either drive up to Kherki Dhaula toll plaza or an equal distance in the opposite direction to take a U-turn.
There is a big question regarding the intersection being able to handle the increased flow of traffic, now that the Sirhaul toll plaza is gone. Experts are of the view that the solution for this does not lie in localized attention. General Manager, urban transport at RITES, YP Sachdeva says, “One has to focus on the entire area as a single unit and then work out solutions because problems along the expressway are like a toothpaste tube. If you press one end, the problem only shifts ahead.”
Former chief town planner of Haryana, Raj Vir Singh talking on the problem and its solutions says,” Problems along the expressway have existed from the time it was built. Now, even with the corrective measures, most of which are cost intensive, one can only hope to achieve certain degrees of correction. But we hope the flyover at Hero Honda Chowk does help to dissipate the present issues.”
Source: The Times of India
expressway, Flyover at Hero Honda Chowk, Gurgaon, Gurgaon Expressway, Haryana, Haryana government, Hero Honda Chowk, Hero Honda Chowk Gurgaon, Kherki Dhaula, MCG, MCG Gurgaon, NHAI, NHAI projects, Old Gurgaon Road, Rites, Sirhaul toll plaza, three-level crossing
Nice blog thanks for sharing it, traffic is major problem in metro cities there is no solution.