Traffic diversions in place at Bakhtawar Chowk on trial

Officials will observe traffic flow during weekdays for a week before taking a call

GURUGRAM :To streamline traffic flow at Bakhtawar Chowk, one of the most congested intersections in the city, the Gurugram police initiated route diversions on Saturday.

On early Saturday morning, using traffic cones and ropes, traffic police cordoned off the area ahead of the traffic signal that used to take commuters heading from sector 50/51 directly towards Huda City Centre Metro station and the DelhiGurgaon Expressway, thereby, also reducing the wait time at the other three signals as a consequence.

These diversions are expected to last for at least one week on a trial basis, said officials.

With the changes, commuters heading from sector 50/51 can no longer head straight towards the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway or turn right to head towards Huda City Centre.

Instead, commuters will have to take a mandatory left turn towards Subhash Chowk and take a U-turn for proceeding towards the Gurgaon expressway or the Huda City Centre Metro station.

At Bakhtawar Chowk, a fourway intersection, traffic converges from Subhash Chowk, Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, Huda City Centre and sector 50/51.

“We have executed these engineering changes on a trial basis. These are expected to be enforced for at least one week. Based on its success, we will take a call on whether to make this a permanent feature,” said Himanshu Garg, deputy commissioner of police (traffic).

Traffic marshals on the ground, managing traffic at the junction, said that the traffic flow was more streamlined than before. However, they conceded that heavy traffic flow on weekdays will determine whether the experiment is a success.

Road safety experts were critical of this experiment and said it does not take into account all road users.

They were also uncertain whether these would ease congestion on the stretch.

“Crossing Bakhtawar Chowk is already a major challenge for pedestrians. The continuous flow of traffic from one direction will only compound their problems and put them at greater risk. In addition, at four-way junctions, closing exits do not make sense as it only shifts traffic from one spot to the other. Hence, I am not sure whether the changes by the traffic police will ease congestion,” said Sarika Panda Bhatt, programme coordinator of Haryana Vision Zero, a government initiative to achieve zero fatality on roads across Haryana.

Incidentally, this not the first experiment carried out by traffic police on the stretch in the recent past.

Two weeks ago, using cones and ropes, traffic police had closed the exit opposite the state vigilance bureau, blocking the right turn from Bakhtawar Chowk towards residential areas of Sector 47.

Instead, commuters were forced to take a U-turn at the traffic signal opposite Mayfield Gardens to reach their destination.

The experiment lasted only two days and the original access was restored.