Both carriageways of the Ashram flyover on Delhi’s Ring Road have been closed for the last leg of construction to link it with an extension around 50m away triggered snarls with bumper-to-bumper traffic.
According to a senior police official, some commuters took to Twitter to share photos of jams, while many travelling on the route, during the peak hours, claimed they spent around half an hour to cross the section. There is heavy traffic in the area, the officials said and added that several people called police to report jams.
A Public Works Department (PWD) official said the re-opened carriageway was closed at 12:30am. “Now none of the carriageways are going to reopen for traffic because the digging work has started at the point where the two carriageways of the flyover end [near DTL colony]. The digging work is required to construct a new road to connect the Ashram flyover and the new DND flyover.”
The official said the work of connecting the two flyovers is likely to be completed in 45 days. The flyover is likely to remain shut for 45 days, the official added. The traffic police had earlier advised people to park only at designated places and plan their journeys, especially if they were going to hospitals, bus terminals, railway stations and airports, owing to the flyover's closure.
Traffic coming from the Outer Ring Road, both sides of the carriageways passing through the Ashram Chowk, DND flyover, Mathura road and Noida bore the brunt. "From January 1, both the carriageways of the Ashram flyover will be closed due to the construction of a connecting road between the Ashram flyover and new DND flyover," the traffic police had said in a statement.
Commuters coming from the Badarpur side are advised to follow Mata Mandir Marg for Ring Road and Sarai Kale Khan, and commuters coming from Badarpur, Sarita Vihar and Jamia side are advised to follow U-turn for Captain Gaur Marg, Lajpat Nagar, AIIMS, they said.