Study to make entry to Barapullah from Ring Road safer
RISKY Commuters from Noida who wish to get onto the Barapullah corridor get less than 150m of road to manoeuvre
NEWDELHI: The entry to the Barapullah Flyover from the Ring Road near Sarai Kale Khan has become an accident-prone area, as central Delhi-bound traffic coming from Noida via the Delhi Noida Direct (DND) Flyway has to manage a sharp left turn while braving the heavy traffic coming from the direction of Ashram.
The Delhi Traffic Police is planning to conduct a study of the stretch on the Ring Road between the end of the DND Flyover and the start of the loop to get onto the Barapullah elevated corridor.
The traffic police said the 150200 metre-long stretch has become accident-prone because it is the point where high speed traffic from Ashram and Noida merges.
According to the Delhi Traffic Police, commuters from Noida who wish to get onto the Barapullah corridor get less than 150 metres to manoeuvre to the lane on the extreme left while dealing with the merging traffic — the loop that takes commuters onto the Barapullah-i corridor from the Ring Road is barely 150 metres ahead of the point where traffic from Ashram and Noida merges.
The Delhi Traffic Police is going to conduct a study to assess the issue and discuss the matter with the Public Works Department (PWD), which manages the Ring Road and the Barapullah-i elevated road.
“We have witnessed traffic congestion at the point where Sarai Kale Khan-bound traffic merges with vehicles getting on to the Barapullah-i elevated road. The section has also become vulnerable to accidents. We are planning to conduct a study and take up the issue with the PWD. We will ask the PWD to solve the problem as soon as we finish our study,” joint commission of police (traffic) Alok Kumar said.
Commuters say the left turn is risky. “Every day I take Barapullah-i corridor from Noida to reach my office in central Delhi; and I always fear I might crash into some vehicle coming from the Ashram side. The spot is vulnerable to accidents as commuters have to change lanes and move to the extreme left to get onto the elevated road amid high speed traffic,” Akanki Sharma, a writer, said.
According to commuters, apart from the safety hazard, this situation also leads to congestion during morning and evening traffic peak hours.
“One has to slow down in order to take the left to get on to the Barapullah elevated corridor. As vehicles (coming from DND) slowly move towards the elevated corridor, it affects the movement of traffic from Ashram side. It takes 20-odd minutes to cross the small stretch during peak hours,” Shikha (known by her first name), who commutes
via the stretch everyday, said.
Traffic experts say that the merging point is flawed in design. Sewa Ram, professor of transport planning at the School of Planning and Architecture, said that there were a number of sections meant for merging of traffic in Delhi that were not properly designed, becoming accident-prone and create a nuisance.
“The fact that there is a stretch of only 150 metres available to get onto the elevated road is a major design flaw. There is a need to rework the road design in order to make the access to the elevated corridor hassle-free for commuters coming from Noida,” he said.
Elaborating on such kinds of road design flaws, Sewa Ram said that these intersections should be carefully planned. “Merging of traffic should be allowed only when the speed of traffic is reduced to normal, and merging points should be widened. There should also be a separate lane for traffic merging,” he said. NEW DELHI: Air quality in the national Capital plunged to ‘very poor’ category on Sunday after remaining ‘poor’ for three consecutive days. The deterioration in air quality has been attributed to slow surface winds and increase in moisture. Air quality is likely to plunge further on Monday and Tuesday.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) value for Delhi on Sunday was 311 against Saturday’s 261. The AQI values on Thursday and Friday were 217 and 285, respectively.
AQI values in NCR towns of Noida and Ghaziabad were also in the ‘very poor’ category while Gurugram was in the ‘poor’ zone, as per Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.
The air quality levels are expected to remain in the ‘very poor’ category on Monday and Tuesday owing to unfavourable meteorological conditions, said, a statement issued by Safar — the