NEW DELHI: The city’s traffic may have already grown to a point where new flyovers no longer help in clearing the congestion. In the first tacit admission of the approaching traffic disaster in Delhi, the Public Works Department is now preparing a new decongestion plan for the Ashram crossing, barely eight years after a flyover was built as a ‘long-term’ solution to the snarls at this intersection.

Although in the past, intersection improvements have been carried out at flyover sites. But these were flyovers built decades ago, such as the Moolchand crossing. The Ashram Chowk crisis has come as an indicator of how a critical congestion scare is looming large over the capital. Transport experts say Delhi is well on its way to becoming the next Bangkok, notorious around the world for nightmarish traffic jams.

There are ominous indicators across the city of intersections and flyovers breaching their designed carrying capacity a lot earlier than estimated.

Flyovers built prior to the Asiad in 1982, and up till the 1990s, eased traffic movement for a longer period in comparison to the ones built since the late ’90s. The situation seems to be fast getting out of hand. A 2008 RITES study found that in 44% of the 170 traffic locations surveyed, vehicular volume had already exceeded the designed capacity. In another 19% locations, traffic was on the verge exceeding capacity.

The import is clear. The city is fast approaching a situation where most roads will be choked beyond capacity.

“Delhi at present has almost 60 lakh vehicles, which is 10% of country’s vehicular population. If the trend continues, it will have 250 lakh vehicles in the next 20 years. Much before that, the city will have ground to a complete halt,” cautioned transport planner N Ranganathan.

On the Ashram flyover plan, PWD officials said they were getting regular complaints of traffic snarls at the junction, particularly during peak hours. “The flyover on the Ring Road also gets choked during peak hours,” said a PWD official.

This seems to a late realization by the department, which has constructed the maximum number of flyovers and grade separators on Delhi roads. PWD is now engaging a consultant to carry out a traffic and transportation study to prepare a whole new traffic model for the intersection. The Ashram flyover was thrown open for public in October 2001.

When it opened, the flyover had cut travel time from Lajpat Nagar to Noida to 10 minutes from the earlier 30-45 minutes. Now, the travel time is back to the pre-2001 level.

Ashram Chowk is not the only example of a flyover’s advantage being lost much ahead of projections. The situation is similarly chaotic at Andrews Ganj, IIT, Nehru Place and Karkardooma crossings.

The reason behind the traffic mayhem is simple. The capital’s vehicular population has simply exploded in the past decade. As per the Delhi Economic Survey (2008-09) report, in 2000-01 Delhi registered 564 private vehicles (both cars and two-wheelers) a day. This jumped to 1,054 personal vehicles per day in 2006-07 registering an almost two-fold increase.

According to the report, Delhi’s vehicular population had reached 56.27 lakh by 2007-08, as against 30.33 lakh in 1997-98 — an annual compound growth rate of 6.42%. Private vehicles constitute 94% of the total vehicular strength.

PWD officials said, due to the rapid rise in the number of vehicles, grade separators or flyovers will not provide long term relief at junctions where vehicles from other states join the Ring Road. Now, the department is thinking of making such points signal free. “We have completed Dhaula Kuan, AIIMS and Mukarba Chowk projects. The Ghazipur project is underway,” said a senior PWD official.

But Ranganathan pointed out that making all intersections signal free is impossible and at some point or the other, the traffic has to take a right turn either to enter or exit an arterial road. “Flyovers can bring only temporary relief to congestion at certain points and the traffic jam shifts from one spot to the other. Yet, these are also necessary to ensure the traffic keeps moving on high density corridors. There is a need to find long term solution to the city’s transport issues,” he argued.

Entry Filed under: Delhi