The flyover has been ready since August but could not be inaugurated as the tree-felling permission for a tree along the median had not come through from the forest department. Similar to the Anand Vihar flyover that was inaugurated on Wednesday, the Punjabi Bagh flyover will also now be inaugurated by barricading the tree and placing retro-reflective stickers around it, the officials said.
“We received a request for trial runs for Tuesday. The flyover was kept open during the morning as well as evening peak hours and the movement of vehicles was smooth. No major traffic concerns were reported. The trial run will be discussed again with PWD on Thursday before the inauguration on Friday,” said a senior traffic police official.
The 1.5-kilometre-long Club Road flyover is one of the two flyovers that comprise integrated transit corridor development and street network between Punjabi Bagh Flyover and Raja Garden Flyover in West Delhi. The first section of the corridor—Moti Nagar flyover—was inaugurated by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on March 13.
Both sections of the flyover are part of the west Delhi Elevated Corridor launched in September 2022 that was expected to be completed by December 2023. Aside from the flyover, a subway is also being built near Punjabi Bagh. The estimated cost of this project is ₹352.32 crore. Officials said that the flyover is expected to reduce 1.6 lakh tonne of carbon emissions and save 18 lakh litres of fuel annually by reducing travel time between north and south Delhi areas.
The project requires permission for felling of 33 trees, which includes one on the flyover along the median while the others are at grade hampering road and footpath repair work, officials said. The tree on the flyover is along the carriageway from Raja Garden to ESI hospital. The project had earlier missed its December 2023 and February 2024 deadlines because utilities such as high-tension power cables and a water pipeline in the area had not been shifted by the respective agencies.
Meanwhile, PWD is also likely to start repair work on Ring road to modify the central verge below Punjabi Bagh and Wazirpur flyovers. Following discussion with traffic police, PWD is expected to place concrete Jersey barriers to create signal free stretches.
“There are two traffic lights at grade under the flyovers that create a bottleneck. Following discussions with the traffic police, it was decided that the junctions should be made more compact to reduce traffic or signal free with extended U-turns. We will have to implement the design changes and see which is a better solution,” said a PWD official.
Apart from placing concrete barriers, removing extra kerb stones and reinforcing it with steel barriers, the work will also include removal of debris and finishing work with painting and signage markings, officials said.
