New Delhi, Sep 25 With an aim to reduce traffic congestion towards South Delhi, the Delhi government is planning to come up with a decongestion plan for the Sarai Kale Khan stretch on Ring Road, officials said on Friday.
A high-level coordination committee meeting on traffic congestion was held earlier, where the issue of heavy traffic congestion at Sarai Kale Khan was raised by Delhi Traffic Police.
“In the future, the traffic load is likely to increase on the Sarai Kale Khan stretch, as there is a merger of metro, rail and ISBT – all at one point. There have been discussions on carrying a study to address the concerns raised by traffic police; a final decision in this regard is pending,” a PWD official said.
The Public Works Department (PWD), which is the main road-owning agency, has recently also planned a traffic simulation study of entire South Delhi network, including Sarai Kale Khan.
“Depending on the requirement, we may hire an expert agency to carry out a feasibility study, just for this stretch, on whether which kind of intervention is required,” officials added.
Currently, Sarai Kale Khan is a high-footfall transit area with multiple modes of transport located at a single location. Part of the Ring Road, commuters travelling from ITO towards Ashram and from NCR cities of Noida and Ghaziabad travelling towards South Delhi merge on the road, which often creates traffic congestion.
The stretch of Ring Road near Sarai Kale Khan ISBT witnesses a heavy flow of traffic due to ongoing infrastructure development work at the transport hub and traffic coming from South Delhi and heading towards east and north Delhi add to the congestion.
Even in the recently approved Master Plan of Delhi 2047, the issues have been recognised and suggestions have been given to improve traffic management systems in this area and mark them as separate multi-modal transport hubs.
As per the hub plan, to facilitate easy movement of pedestrians in the area, different agencies can construct more skywalks, subways and pedestrian bridges for connectivity. The hubs will promote safety, public interaction and economic activity through cultural and public spaces, official added.
In 2023, with the aim to reduce traffic congestion at Sarai Kale Khan on Ring Road, the PWD constructed a second three-lane flyover.
(PTI News)
