News: Gurugram: Why this link to Dwarka Expressway is motorists’ nightmare-14-09-2021
GURUGRAM: With the cloverleaf interchange to take at least a year from now to get completed, commuters are forced to grapple with a non-motorable stretch between the Dwarka Expressway-Pataudi Road intersection and Umang Bharadwaj Chowk.
Residents of new sectors who use it to access NH-8 claim that the stretch running parallel to the elevated segment of Dwarka Expressway is in shambles, often leading to long jams and vehicles breaking down due to deep potholes.
The residents allege that their repeated complaints to the civic agencies and the district administration have so far fallen on deaf ears.
“Driving on this road is like we are being punished for choosing to stay in new sectors and access the NH-8 without paying toll at the Kherki Daula plaza. I have developed an incessant back problem and there appears to be no alternative to escape it,” said Nikhil Singh, a daily commuter.
The intersection where Dwarka Expressway intersects Pataudi Road and the 500-metre stretch on either side, in particular, is a commuter's nightmare.
Commuters, who manage to somehow drive at a snail’s pace on the unmetalled surface right below the elevated segment of the expressway, rue about the two U-turns that connect them with Pataudi Road. On Monday afternoon, a truck got stuck in one of these U-turns.
And it only gets worse from here on. Whichever direction, towards Manesar or Hero Honda Chowk, the commuters head to, the 500-metre stretch is riddled with potholes that are difficult to locate as it gets waterlogged during the monsoon rains. Cars breaking down, bikers skidding, and tailbacks as vehicles get stuck in ankle-deep potholes is a usual site on any given day. During peak hours, traffic becomes chaotic.
“This road is a nightmare. As work on Dwarka Expressway is progressing, the road is getting degraded by the day. It is as if authorities have forgotten this stretch and are relying on just one Dwarka Expressway to solve all the problems. It is almost impossible for a pedestrian to think of walking on this road. The middle segments are broken and the sides are waterlogged,” said Rakesh, who owns a grocery shop on this stretch.
The situation of this road is pathetic all the way till Umang Bharadwaj Chowk. High-tension wire towers already convert a narrow two-lane highway into just one lane. Thereafter, taking a U-turn to head towards Hero Honda Chowk is not just a test of driving skills but also the shocker suspensions of the vehicles.
Traffic cops plead helplessness. “They build such poor roads and then expect us to control traffic. First, make roads that can take traffic. We try to settle the chaos but it’s a futile exercise here. We just ensure that major traffic violations and chronic congestion don’t take place,” said a traffic police officer.
MCG officials say the department is planning to completely redesign Pataudi Road all the way to Garhi Harsaru.
Moreover, the NHAI is also expected to give the stretch between Hero Honda Chowk and Umang Bharadwaj Chowk a facelift.
The highways authority says it is hoping to begin the work by this month-end.
