Public Works Department planned bypass, to work on new option

NEW DELHI: As a means of decongesting Outer Ring Road during construction of the parallel RTR flyover, the high court had asked the Public Works Department to find alternative routes for those travelling from south Delhi towards Indira Gandhi International Airport.
The route that the court wants the public works department (PWD) to revive involves turning left onto Nelson Mandela Marg from Outer Ring Road and taking Mahipalpur Road that will connect to NH-8 near the Aerocity via a newly constructed bypass.
PWD has planned for a flyover from the mouth of this bypass into the airport area to help traffic avoid NH-8. Agency officials said they did not plan an underpass but as the court had asked for it, the matter would be looked into.
“Before the court granted us permission to start work on the parallel RTR flyover, we had to ensure that this alternative route was in a position to take on the additional traffic. The alternative route for access to NH-8 is via Nelson Mandela Marg, turning right under the flyover onto Mehrauli-Mahipalpur Road and taking another right towards NH-8 on a newly constructed road by DDA emerging close to the Aerocity,” said a senior PWD official.
“Because it would still require vehicles to turn left onto NH-8 and take a U-turn at the Mahipalpur crossing to access the airport, we planned on constructing a flyover connecting the bypass directly with the airport,” he added. The project has been granted approval by the urban development ministry under the decongestion of Delhi plan. “It will also give us 80% funding.”
However, said the official, as all new projects have come to a standstill due to the tension between the Centre and the state, all these plans are still on the drawing board.
“Work on the RTR flyover has already started and other than the proposed flyover, the alternative route is already catering to traffic from south Delhi. However, Mahipalpur, due to massive encroachment along both sides of the road near NH-8, is still a traffic nightmare,” said the official.