CM orders review of Mayur Vihar FOB

NEW DELHI: A day after TOI carried a report on a foot overbridge, which leaves pedestrians in the middle of the UP Link Road, chief minister Shiela Dikshit has directed the Public Works Department (PWD) — the agency responsible for the project — to study the situation on the ground and take corrective measures, according to PWD officials. The PWD principal secretary and the engineer-in-chief are expected to visit the site in the coming week.Senior PWD officials said if no solution can be worked out, the “FOB will be shifted to another location’’.
The foot overbridge, located at the Mayur Vihar phase-I junction, ends right in the middle of the road on a divider. The road leading from Noida to Akshardham Temple and beyond has been split into two, and the FOB was constructed over one part. This was done to ensure signal-free movement of traffic under it and, according to PWD officials.
“At a review meeting held with the CM on Friday, it was pointed out that the present design can also lead to accidents. The CM has now asked us to review the situation. We will try to find a solution. Extension of the FOB is not possible due to the location of the single carriageway flyover on this stretch,’’ said a senior PWD official.
At present, people who wish to cross over to Mayur Vihar after getting down from the FOB have to brave the traffic and sprint across to the other side to walk under the flyover or walk backwards towards a traffic signal and wait to cross the road. The traffic signal has been installed for vehicles that will be turning right into Mayur Vihar.
The single-lane flyover that runs parallel to the road has been made to facilitate signal-free movement of traffic from Pushta to Noida. It goes over the Mayur Vihar Phase-I junction.
A total of three FOBs have been planned on UP Link Road. These will be constructed at a cost of Rs 6 crore and all of them will have lifts. The work should be completed soon, said an official. PWD claims that a reason why the consultant had recommended construction of an FOB on this spot is that once the Barapullah Phase-III project connecting south Delhi with east Delhi takes off, the elevated road will, most likely, end at this junction. This road will then see a lot of pedestrian movement and the FOB will be widely used, said an official.
With hardly any pedestrian movement visible on this stretch at present, this FOB, it seems, is a perfect example of ill-planning by government agencies and a waste of public money.