Cabinet okays RTR Marg flyover,work to start soon

The Public Works Department (PWD) will now prepare a detailed project report before floating tenders to begin construction after around two months.

“It will take us two months to prepare detailed designs and estimates for the flyover and the underpass. Thereafter,we will float tenders. But if the procedure takes less time and the election code of conduct is in place,we will approach the Election Commission for floating of tenders,” PWD chief engineer (flyovers) Sarvagya Srivastava said.

Last week,the project was granted financial clearance after a model of the proposed flyover and an underpass was shown to CM Sheila Dikshit at a meeting of the Cabinet.

Construction of the parallel flyover is expected to decongest the stretch from IIT to the airport. The new three-lane flyover will commence from the existing Munirka flyover and run parallel to the RTR flyover before descending near Niryat Bhawan. The length of the flyover will be 2.2 km.

The RTR Marg flyover has been the subject of considerable debate — and the reason for a traffic nightmare — ever since a handful of Palam Marg residents,whose bungalows face the road,opposed the takeover of a service lane outside their houses for the flyover project. The flyover was reduced to a single carriageway,resulting in a traffic bottleneck and daily chaos.

The PWD maintains that the width of the service lane outside these houses may have to be reduced for the parallel flyover.