Commuters going from Vasant Kunj to Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport will soon get to travel signal-free. Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri will inaugurate an underpass and
a flyover at Mahipalpur projects in South Delhi. Commuters coming from Gurgaon to Vasant Kunj will also benefit from this project.
According to Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, an underpass, a flyover and two loops of Mahipalpur bypass junction has been constructed at the cost of Rs 162 crore.
The total cost of the project was Rs 188 crore. Of them, Rs 26 crore have been saved and the project was completed before the original deadline of March 2019. The HUA ministry has funded 100percent of the cost of the project, which was the part of the projects to decongest Delhi.
The funds have been used from the Urban Development Funds created by the Ministry to decongest Delhi.
The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has constructed an underpass and a flyover to get rid of the
traffic mess at Mahipalpur NH-8 junction and will directly connect to the Aerocity and a flyover.
The underpass is going right beneath the busy Delhi-Gurugram Expressway and connecting to the Aerocity on the other side of the NH-8.
The flyover was made at Vasant kunj Pocket E and Mahipalpur bypass junction. Two loops which was part of the projects also constructed. These loops will provide signal free traffic movement to commuters coming from Gurgaon to Vasant Kunj.
The officials said that the flyovers at the Vasant Kunj side and airport side is around one km long each while the
length of the underpass would be 1.2 km.
The underpass at Mahipalpur is the part of the grade separator coming up on the three km Mahipalpur bypass road.
The underpass and the new flyovers, part of the Mahipalpur bypass project, on the Vasant Kunj-Mahipalpur stretch will particularly help south Delhi commuters, cutting by at least 20 minutes the time taken to reach airport from Vasant Kunj.
“This will be a big relief for south Delhi traffic headed to the airport via Vasant Kunj. The new Mahipalpur bypass will connect directly to Vasant Kunj and further up to Mehrauli via Chhatarpur without getting stuck into the narrow roads of Mahipalpur market”, the official added.
The CPWD has used the box pushing technique to execute the project. Using this technique, pre-fabricated concrete boxes is placed under the expressway and thus ensure quick completion of the project.
This technique has ensured that the construction of underpass does not affect traffic movement on expressway. This method is generally used in making tunnels in the mountains. Chenani-Nashri tunnel connecting Udhampur to Ramban in Jammu & Kashmir is prime example of this method.
