nNow travelling to Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport and the Western part of national Capital such as Dwarka, Nazafgarh and Uttam Nagar from South Delhi’s Dhaula Kuan will be smooth as the Public Works Department (PWD) and Delhi Traffic Police have decided to close four back to back red light signals on Pankha Road and make it a signal free stretch to end the daily traffic chaos.

Witnessing heavy traffic snarls on this stretch, Delhi Traffic Police conducted a survey with the help of Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) to identify the reason behind the heavy vehicular congestion on the stretch. Following the results, the traffic police have written a request letter to implement the ‘U-turn’ scheme in October.

“ Pankha Road is A-category carriage way which is facing severe traffic congestion. In order to alleviate the traffic problem, a survey has been conducted to find out suitable for A-2, C-1, C-2 Pankha Road and traffic signal at bus stand near Janak Cinema. It is therefore requested that the above said civil works related to construction of U-turn may please be done on priority basis for the smooth flow of traffic and safety of general public,” read the letter send to PWD from Delhi Traffic Police. PWD is expected to issue tender soon to carry out the work.

As per the proposal, back to back U-turn on both sides at about 50 metre distance on central verge of Pankha Road will created on A-2, C-I and C-2 Pankha Road and one U turn will be provided on central verge of Pankha road for commuters.  However, the DTC buses will be allowed to take U-Turn under Dabri flyover.

“The people travelling to and fro to parts of West Delhi such as Uttam Nagar, Jankapuri, Dwarka and Nazafgarh take this route but the stretch from C-I Panka Road to Janak cinema near Janakprui witnesses a heavy jam due to back to back U-turn on this stretch. Thus, it has been decided to close this red light and make it a signal free u-turn to decongest and save travelling time,” said a Delhi Traffic Police.

After implementing the ‘U-Turn’ scheme on the 3.8 km stretch from A-2 Pankha Road to G block 15near Janakpuri, about 10 minutes of travel time will be saved and the travel will be reduced to 19 minutes to 9 minutes, said the official.

As per officials, approximately 6000-7000 vehicles criss-cross this stretch (C-1 Pankha Road to Janak cinema near Janakpuri) in the peak hours. “The traffic jams on this road is mainly due to the continuous red light because about 250-300 vehicles stop on each red light signal because of which creates a chaos,” said the traffic police.

It may be noted that PWD has closed three major red lights on 5.8 km stretch from Moolchand to Ambedkar Nagar Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg, infamous for congestions and never ending traffic jams. “After implementing the ‘U-turn scheme on this stretch, the traffic police also took the commuters ride and observed the travel timing as well as jams on the stretch. Travelling is smoother on this road after implementation of this scheme. Following which the Dwarka Traffic Unit also wanted to explore the scheme on the Pankha road which sees a heavy traffic jams daily,” said an official.