Gurgaon Expressway may be farther than you thought

December 20, 2007

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You may not be able to make that superfast dash to Gurgaon on January 1 after all. And even afterwards, the drive won’t be as easy as you may imagine — not for a while at least.

“We may miss the December 31 deadline by two-three days,” RP Indoria, chief project director of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said, contradicting reported comments by a senior colleague. Even then, the Hero Honda crossing underpass and Kapasehra flyover won’t be ready, and the terrible traffic bottlenecks will stay.

Nor will the Expressway fulfil all the essential requirements of a high-speed corridor — such as median fencing, foot-overbridges, and service lanes for local traffic. Work on toll plazas and signages looks far from nearing completion.

Indoria said NHAI aimed to provide “relief to harried and harassed commuters”, but seemed to suggest its focus was on VIPs. “We might open the Rao Tula Ram Marg-Palam flyover and domestic airport loop in the first week of January… Since RTR-Palam flyover and loop is used by VVIPs we would like to ensure all safety measures before we open these,” he said.

All of which indicates the hyped-up “throwing open” of the Expressway could turn out to be only a technical opening of a certain stretch, with little change in the commuter’s actual experience.

Source: hindustantimes.com