Seven deadlines later, Delhi’s Ashram underpass to open on March 22

The Ashram Chowk underpass, one of the most delayed infrastructure projects in the national capital, will be opened on March 22, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said on Monday after an inspection of the ongoing work at the site.

“The construction work on Ashram underpass is now in final stages, and the underpass will be opened for traffic on March 22. This will help lakhs of commuters who face daily traffic jams on this intersection. Last year, the construction work had to be stopped several times due to Covid induced restrictions,” said Sisodia, who took over the PWD portfolio on February 23.

The 750-metre underpass, work on which began in December 2019, has missed seven deadlines so far, leading to persistent jams at one of the city’s most critical and traffic intensive stretches. The underpass is aimed at providing a signal-free ride between Nizamuddin and Badarpur on Mathura Road at Ashram intersection.

A senior PWD official who asked not to be named said that the remaining work include laying the road on some patches of the ramps on either side and the installing covers on the ramps. He added that finishing work on two foot overbridges on either side of the underpass was also being carried out.

However, the intersection will likely continue to witness snarls on the main carriageway towards DND and Sarai Kale Khan since the work on the extension of the Ashram flyover was going on. The flyover is being extended from Maharani Bagh up to Delhi-Noida Direct Flyway with ramp towards Sarai Kale Khan to provide smoother traffic between Lajpat Nagar and Noida.

Sisodia said that the extended flyover will be completed by August this year. “Lakhs of people use these routes to commute daily to ITO, Ring Road, Central Secretariat, India Gate, Central Delhi. The construction work on Ashram flyover will be completed by August, and the Pragati Maidan underpass being built in collaboration with Delhi government and central government will be completed by May,” he said.

The Ashram intersection, which serves as a gateway to Delhi for the NCR cities of Noida and Faridabad, carries a daily load of 350,000 vehicles. Apart from protracted work, poor site management, lack of traffic management measures , and simultaneous construction of the flyover extension have ensured that the crossing remains a nightmare for the commuters.

The underpass connects Nizamuddin railway bridge and CSIR Apartments at the Ashram intersection. The foundation stone for the underpass was laid on December 24, 2019, and it was initially expected to be completed by December 2020. Having failed to finish the project, PWD revised the deadline seven times, with the last one fixed for February 2022.

Construction delays

The underground road link was touted as an architectural marvel as it creates a four-tier traffic network at the main Ashram crossing — Metro’s underground Pink Line, the underpass, surface road traffic, and the existing flyover. PWD officials have attributed the work mostly to suspension work first on the account of lockdowns induced by the Covid pandemic and then due to rising air pollution during winters.

“In terms of technical hurdles, the change in alignment of the underpass wall due to existing wall of the Metro line and the relocation of 220KV high power transmission line were the main challenges,” a PWD official said. Last year in July, PWD detected a 220 KV power line that runs from Maharani Bagh to AIIMS Trauma Centre, passing through a section of the underpass. A Delhi transco official said that the section of power line in the underpass was relocated by November 15.

Lesson for future projects

Transport experts said the main takeaway from the implementation of the project is that mobility planning for such busy stretches should keep evolving. They said PWD should focus on evolving a strategy to improve pedestrian access in the area.

Sewa Ram, professor of transport planning in the School of Planning and Architecture, said, “We are already a decade late in the intervention at this intersection. Since other projects such as the Delhi-Meerut expressway was coming up in the vicinity, the traffic volume at this intersection was bound to increase. The vehicular flow is coming at a much faster pace, and the Ashram intersection gets overwhelmed. We should have a phase-wise planning which should be linked with the overall mobility and transportation planning of the region and the city.”

S Velmurugan, chief scientist, Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), said a lot of work was still pending such as ramp covers, installation of signage, road markings, etc. He added that a pre-opening safety audit of the intersection should be carried out before it is finally opened to the traffic.

“Pre-opening audit is a must for understanding changes required for safe pedestrian movement, junction design for right turning traffic and other interventions. PWD cannot open it in haste,” he said, and added that “full relief” from jams could only be expected after the extended flyover is also opened.