Why construction near Mahipalpur has caused a traffic nightmare on Delhi-Gurgaon highway
On Tuesday, The Indian Express travelled towards Gurgaon via the Ring Road from Moti Bagh via Shankar Vihar and Vasant Vihar.
Construction and Traffic congestion at the Mahipalpur Airport Road on Tuesday. (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)
For two months now, travelling to Gurgaon has been a daily nightmare for lakhs of commuters heading into the Millennium City via the Mahipalpur flyover owing to construction of a portion of the Dwarka Expressway.
In September, the service road on NH-48 from Dwarka Link Road merging point to the Mahipalpur petrol pump was closed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to wrap up work, leading to bumper-to-bumper traffic during the morning and evening rush hours.
If one starts from Vasant Vihar near Rangpuri, it takes almost 25-30 minutes to reach Shiv Murti Marg on NH-48 — less than a kilometre long.
On Tuesday, The Indian Express travelled towards Gurgaon via the Ring Road from Moti Bagh via Shankar Vihar and Vasant Vihar. Traffic was normal till Shani Mandir but the roads were jammed starting from Vasant Vihar especially when one enters the Gurgaon-Delhi expressway and goes towards Mahipalpur flyover.
There is traffic on the elevated corridor as well as the road below it. Both stretches merge at Mahipalpur, near the Tata Telco road. Here, construction of an underpass on the left side, providing a U-turn option for Delhi or IGI Airport, is underway.
“Traffic movement on this section is impacted due to the ongoing construction of underpasses which will link the NH-48 and Dwarka Expressway… During non-peak hours, traffic movement slows down. In the morning and evening peak hours from 7.30 am to 11 am and 6 pm to 10 pm, it affects the entire stretch causing a 30-minute jam,” said a traffic police officer deployed on the route.
Once the underpass is constructed, travelling on this stretch will be very smooth as the underpass will provide a direct link to the Airport for those coming from Gurgaon and they don’t have to come till Mahipalpur Chowk, said Traffic Police.
Construction near Mahipalpur. (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)
Additional CP (Traffic) Dinesh K Gupta said, “The service lane at Rajokri has been closed due to construction work on NH-48 due to which the entire load has shifted to the main road. Work will go on for two more months. We have deployed extra personnel to manually manage vehicles.”
Further, he said traffic police are removing encroachments near South Campus and Dhaula Kuan to ease traffic flow.
Earlier, the Delhi Police issued an advisory asking people to take alternative routes to reach Mahipalpur, Vasant Kunj, IGI Airport and Dhaula Kuan, as the service road on NH-48, from the NSG office to Mahipalpur petrol pump, has been closed.
“We have noticed 20-25 minute traffic jams on this stretch as you ride down from the Rajokri flyover. We hope construction work is completed on time without any delay,” said senior Delhi government officer O P Mishra.
Here is the traffic advisory:
Commuters can opt for these alternative routes
📌 Mehrauli–Gurgaon Road via Aya Nagar border
📌 Old Gurgaon Road–Kapashera–Samalkha Gaon
📌 Gurgaon-Dwarka Expressway–Yashobhoomi–Dwarka Sector 23 crossing — Janki Chowk –Dwarka Sector 6/7 crossing–Sector 1 crossing then take right for Palam flyover-Dhaula Kuan
📌 Dabri–Gurgaon Road–Dwarka Flyover–Dwarka Road –Parade Road
📌 Gurgaon –Dwarka Expressway–Yashobhoomi–Mahipalpur –Dhaula Kuan
Delhi Traffic Police has asked commuters going to work, the airport, or hospitals to take the Delhi Metro and plan their journey in advance to reach on time.
Share
