Putting forth a list of decisions to decongest traffic in Delhi-Gurugram, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday announced proposals to construct an elevated parallel highway and a tunnel from Gurugram to connect the IGI Airport. A Dwarka Express Highway and Metrino public transport project, which will enable traveling in driverless pods suspended on a ropeway, are also on the anvil.
“We are examining a proposal to build an elevated parallel road to the airport so that traffic from the Haryana side can be diverted to it. Two radars on the sides of the proposed elevated road are main obstacle to the project,” Gadkari said.
The Minister said that he had recently held a meeting in this regard with Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju and the issue of changing the positions of the radars was discussed and its feasibility was being examined.
The Minister said the Government will also construct a tunnel from Haryana and connect it to Terminal 3 of the airport to reduce frequent traffic jams.
Gadkari said the two proposals were in addition to the proposed Dwarka Expressway for which he held a “review meeting with the Civil
Aviation Minister and the Airports Authority of India to resolve issues”.
He said that earlier the Haryana Government was constructing the Dwarka Expressway, but now the Centre would do it by declaring it a National Highway. “The process of land acquisition between Delhi and Haryana has started. We will start the work soon,” he said.
Meanwhile, work on the ambitious Rs 800 crore pilot pod taxi project, also known as Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) or Metrino, is also likely to start soon.
The pilot project will cost about Rs 800 crore for a 12.3-km stretch from the Delhi-Haryana border on NH 8 (near Ambience Mall) to Badshahpur via Rajiv Chowk, IFFCO and Sohna Road.
Four global companies, one from london which has done work in this regard at Heathrow Airport, second from the UAE, third from the US and the fourth from Poland, have qualified in initial technical bids.
The Rs 4,000-crore public transport project will provide for travel in driverless pods suspended on a ropeway in the NCR. The first phase will connect the 70-km stretch from Dhaula Kuan in Delhi to Manesar in Haryana to decongest NCR and ease traffic.