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new delhi: picture this: you live in noida and must catch a client at lajpat nagar at 10 am. naturally, you’ll use the noida toll bridge — the fastestroute — then onto the ring road. so when would you leave home? at least at 8:30 am, as there is that chaotic bottleneck called ashram chowk.but october 30 could be the your dream-day. driving at a moderate 60 km per hour, you may cover the 6.5 km stretch on your way to lajpat nagar in six or seven minutes flat. that’s because the ashram chowk flyover will be thrown open to traffic in a week’ time. the six-lane flyover, which is 270 metres long, was conceived in 1996 as part of the noida toll bridge project. it was supposed to be inaugurated along with it in february this year. but a controversial wall — that had to be pulled down following a high court order — and apending sewage line case with maharani bagh residents dragged construction work a good seven months beyond schedule. but though many commuters travelling to delhi from noida are happy, traffic police are not sure ashram flyover is the best solution. ‘‘we are expecting traffic on the toll bridge to double from the present 23,000-25,000 vehicles a day,’’ says noida toll bridge corporation ceo pradeep puri. exactly so, says maxwell pereira, joint commissioner of police (traffic). ‘‘this is an elitist flyover for the noida crowd. our study shows that only 30 per cent of the traffic crossing the chowk heads straight on the ring road towards lajpat nagar. bulk of the traffic, about 60 per cent, coming south turns left towards mathura road and the remaining right towards nizamuddin. the flyover should have been exactly at right angles to what it is now. most of the trouble flows beneath the flyover, ‘’ pereira said. sandeep jain, a businessman travelling regularly from new friends colony to lajpat nagar, is waiting for the ‘‘construction mess’’ at the chowk to clear up. ‘‘i still take half an hour to 45 minutes to reach just the chowk from home. thepressure on mathura road is very heavy,’’ he says, hoping that the new flyover will ease the congestion at the crossing.
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