News: Ambience Mall underpass: Meet to take call on toll shift-25-11-2020
GURUGRAM: Officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) are slated to meet on Thursday to discuss the issue of shifting a few gates of the Sirhaul toll plaza for the construction of the Ambience Mall underpass U-turn. The gates fall in the line of the alignment of the underpass and have held up the remaining 20% of the construction, officials said.
NHAI officials said 80% of the construction was over and they hoped to complete the entire project by January next year if the impasse over toll gates ended soon. The gates are on the Delhi-Jaipur side of NH-48. NHAI needs 32-40 sqmt of land to shift the gates. Since some part of the area also falls in Delhi, a nod from SDMC is also required.
If the authorities agree to shift the gates, traffic on the lanes 4, 5 and 6 will be affected. At the meeting, the officials will also discuss how to proceed with the shifting without affecting the flow of traffic much and the issue of land required for the new gates.
“We don’t want to delay this project any further. In a letter to SDMC, we have asked them to prepare an estimate. All these issues would be discussed on November 26,” said Shashi Bhushan, the NHAI project director. “We will ensure that the construction work doesn’t affect the flow of traffic. The relocation of the toll gates would have to be facilitated smoothly,” he added.
The underpass would be 377 metres long with four lanes. It will provide seamless travel from Shankar Chowk to Ambience Mall, easing congestion at the Delhi-Gurugram border.
“The project has already been delayed because of the lockdown. Work on it is underway now. If the issue of shifting the toll gates is sorted, we hope to complete the project in January,” the NHAI project director said.
