Traffic resumes on expressway Speed limit reduced on Yamuna e-way to prevent accidents
GHAZIABAD: After a gap of over a year, traffic resumed on the Ghaziabad-Delhi carriageway of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway on Thursday, after the last batch of farmers vacated the UP Gate area a day earlier.
The Ghaziabad-Delhi carriageways of the DME, as well as lanes of National Highway 9 (NH-9), of which the DME is a part, were shut on November 28 last year, in the wake of farmers occupying the UP Gate site to protest against the three contentious farm laws that were finally withdrawn in December.
“The Ghaziabad-Delhi lanes of the DME have been opened and two lanes of NH-9 have also been opened to traffic. Two lanes of the highway are still closed as some barricading is left to be removed. Traffic is plying smoothly on the expressway...The Delhi-Ghaziabad lanes of the DME were already operational,” said Arvind Kumar, project director, NHAI.
The UP Gate area comprises three expressway lanes on each side, while the four outer lanes on each side are the NH-9 lanes. Together, the DME and NH-9 have 14 lanes up to Dasna in Ghaziabad. Officials of the Ghaziabad police said they removed the barricades that they had put up near Khoda and also near Pratap Vihar to restrict the movement of commuters towards the UP Gate protest site.
Due to the restrictions, daily commuters were using the alternative routes through Noida’s Sector 62, Hindon canal road near Khoda and Anand Vihar border near Kaushambi.
“With the opening of the DME, the diversions have automatically ended. This will reduce congestion and give relief to thousands of commuters who had a harrowing time taking detours to reach their destinations. The service lane to Vaishali is yet to be opened due to barricading while the UP Gate underpass area is now open,” said Gyanendra Kumar Singh, superintendent of police (city 2).
The traffic police said it is coordinating with the Delhi Police for removal of remaining barricades.
“The service lane from Delhi to Vaishali is yet to be opened and so are two lanes of NH-9 — from Ghaziabad to Delhi. The Raj Nagar Extension to UP Gate lanes of the Hindon elevated road are yet to open as cleaning work is still on at UP Gate. We expect the remaining routes will to be opened in the next 24 hours,” said Ramanand Kushwaha, superintendent of police (traffic).
Commuters heaved a sigh of relief on traffic resuming on DME. “I started about an hour early each day during past one year to reach my office in south Delhi on time. Resumption of traffic is a major relief for thousands of commuters who battled jams, snarls and pollution due to diversions,” said Kuldeep Saxena, resident of Indirapuram.
“From about 6,000 estimated vehicles on a normal day, the traffic in our township spiked to about 70,000 vehicles per day due to diversion. At last, the DME has opened and we expect that the traffic chaos in our township will end now. We faced huge traffic issues and pollution on account of diversions,” said VK Mittal, president of Kaushambi Apartments Residents’ Welfare Association.
GREATER NOIDA:: With an aim to prevent vehicles from overspeeding on the Yamuna Expressway and curb accidents, the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida) has reduced the speed limit for light vehicles to 80 kilometre per hour (kmph) from 100 kmph due to low visibility during the winter season. The speed for heavy vehicles has been fixed at 60 kmph, down from 80 kmph, said officials.
“The speed limit of 80 kmph for light vehicles and 60kmph for heavy vehicles will be applicable from December 15 to February 15, 2022. Commuters who are caught violating the speed limit will be fined,” said Arun Vir Singh, CEO of Yeida.
In the past couple of days, the visibility on the expressway has been low leading to accidents, said officials.
On December 13, two men from Delhi died and two more sustained injuries after the car they were travelling in reportedly collided with a moving truck on the Yamuna expressway, said Yeida officials.
On November 6, five people, including the wife and son of a UP government official, and a driver of a private bus died in a car-bus collision on the expressway. Police later said the bus driver dozed off when he was returning from Agra to Greater Noida.
The authority has also suggested to arrange tea for commuters at the toll plazas so that drivers stay alert and do not fall asleep in the early morning hours.
The Yeida has also directed the toll operator, Jaypee Infratech Limited, to expedite the work of installing crash barriers on the median of the Yamuna Expressway from Greater Noida to Agra.
The expressway operator will spend ₹75 crore on the installation of crash barrier. A crash barrier is a strong fence at the side of a road or in the middle of a dual carriageway or motorway that prevents a vehicle from diverting to the other side and reduces the risk of serious accidents. “We have directed the toll operator to expedite the work to ensure the safety of commuters driving on the expressway,” said Singh.