Connectivity issues still haunt T3

“At present,nearly two lakh people travel to and from the IGI Airport daily,adding up to nearly 95,000 vehicles. At present,the only access point is from NH-8,” a traffic official said.

The Northern Access Road and Dwarka Underpass were recommended by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) in 2007 as part of the five road projects that would meet traffic requirements of the IGI Airport. The projects were to be completed in the first phase of airport development,to coincide with the opening of Terminal 3. Later,it took to chasing the Commonwealth Games deadline.

While the Dwarka Underpass is now complete and functional,the airport developer — GMR-backed Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) — is confident that the Northern Access Road would be completed in time for the November 14 opening of domestic operations at T3.

At present,heavy congestion is experienced on NH-8,even when there are no domestic operations at T3. Traffic on the congested stretch of NH-8,from Palam to Radisson roundabout,is expected to increase manifold after the full-fledged shifting of domestic carriers to T3.

Once the northern access road gets operational,traffic to and from Dwarka and West Delhi can proceed to T3 without having to get into NH-8. With its commissioning,a commuter would be able to avoid this congested stretch of NH 8. “The new northern access road would ensure three entries and exits to T3 from the city. Decongestion of the main NH-8 at the roundabout,near Radisson Hotel and Mahipalpur junctions,would not only help passengers but also airlines,regulatory agency staffers,and service providers,” a DIAL official said.

“The network would be operational by November 14,in time for the shifting of all proposed domestic operations to Terminal 3,” he added. Domestic airlines such as Kingfisher,Jet Airways,Jet Lite and Jet Connect would shift to Terminal 3,starting 00:01 hours on November 14.

Northern Access Road

This is a 360-m tunnel road from Palam-side to Terminal 3,under Runway 28-10,being built for the Airports Authority of India by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. The project was started in April after the Directorate General Civil Aviation granted permission and Runway 28-10 was shut down for maintenance. Construction was planned in a way that flight operations would remain unaffected. The total cost of the project is Rs 110 crore,out of which Rs 65 crore would be funded by the Delhi government and Rs 45 crore by the DDA. The cost for maintenance of the tunnel — including the road,lighting,security and surveillance equipment — will be borne by DIAL,estimated at approximately Rs 1 crore per annum.

Dwarka Underpass

The Rs 65-crore underpass road laid by the DDA has already been commissioned for use by the public,segregating two major streams of traffic generated by the airport and Dwarka subcity. The signalised junction at the surface (above the underpass leading to Dwarka) is the starting point of the Northern Access Road.

Central Spine

The Central Spine,or the main approach road for Terminal 3 is a 4+4 lane — expandable up to 10+10 lanes — supported by a network of service roads to take care of all access and circulation requirements. About 200 metres from Terminal 3,the Central Spine network would segregate pedestrian and vehicular flow,and facilitate integration with various connecting points such as entry and exit from Northern Access Road and Mahipalpur junction. It also connects the passenger skywalk and a pedestrian tunnel leading to the terminal building from the car park,Metro station and taxi stand.