East Delhi- IGI Rd on cards
East Delhi-IGI Rd on cards
Rahul Chhabra, New Delhi, Sept 3, 2014, DHNS:
Barapullah Road may be extended till airport, NH-8
Travelling from east Delhi to the airport and the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway in the west could be reduced to just a zip thorugh.
Impressed by the success of the elevated Barapullah Road over a drain, the Delhi government is studying the feasibility of extending the signal-free road between Sarai Kale Khan and INA up to the airport and the Delhi-Gurgaon Highway – a part of the National Highway 8 going upto Jaipur.
Public Works Department’s Engineer-in-Chief Dinesh Kumar confirmed the proposal and said: “We are studying various options for going up to the airport and the Delhi-Gurgaon National Highway number 8.”
“Consultants would be asked to suggest the best alignment for extending the elevated road,” he said. The proposed extension would be of about 20 km and cost around Rs 125 crore for each km.
One of the options being studied is to take the elevated road over Aurobindo Marg up to the Indian Institute of Technology crossing and linking it to the Outer Ring Road, before touching the highway.
“The elevated road is going to progress over open drains for most part of its extension from INA to National Highway 8,” said an official.
Another alignment option under consideration is to take the elevated road from INA to R K Puram, Vasant Kunj, Mahipalpur and then touching the National Highway, he said.
Officials in the PWD said the union transport and urban transport ministries had given encouraging signals to Delhi engineers to explore possibilities of taking the Barapullah elevated road up to the airport and the highway.
“The idea is to ensure that Gurgaon-bound traffic, which enters Delhi from eastern borders, is prevented from mingling with traffic on city’s arterial roads so that there is no traffic congestion,” said an official.
The ministry has asked us to think and not worry about the funds, said an official, hinting at the possibility of a public-private parternship mode for financing the capital intensive project.
Engineers in PWD said consultants for the western extension of the Barapullah Road may also look at the possible hurdles in taking forward the elevated road.
“They may also recommend if any part of the road would need to be a tunnel,” said the official.
The over 8 km Barapullah drain road, whose proposal at one stage was scrapped ahead of the Commonwealth Games, is a signal-free stretch for Delhi drivers travelling between east and south Delhi. The elevated road project has seen several modifications and extension proposals to add to its utility. The entire project is expected to be worth Rs 1,000 crore.
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