#delhitraffic: RTR flyover: For 20 days, no night traffic
NEW DELHI: Following Thursday's accident on the Rao Tula Ram flyover that killed one person, the traffic police has decided to shut it down every night till the work on the construction of the concrete central verge is over. During this period, commuters will have to use the surface road to cross the stretch, which will especially affect those going to and coming from the IGI airport.
"We have decided that the flyover will be closed every night from midnight till 6am until the work on the central verge is completed. As the traffic flow is low during this time, the surface road will suffice for smooth facilitation of the movement on that stretch. We have also asked the road-owning agency to construct road signs at either end of the flyover, warning motorists during the day about the half-constructed central verge," said joint commissioner of police (traffic).
A 28-year-old Afghan was charred to death inside his Honda City on Thursday morning after his car rammed into the half-constructed central verge, swerved towards the sound barriers at the side of the flyover, hit it and caught fire. Four others escaped with injuries.
The narrow three-lane flyover was halved to facilitate two-way movement of traffic after it caused huge bottlenecks on either side underneath the flyover. Though a proper central verge was supposed to be constructed a year ago, work on the concrete central verge begun only this January. The public works department is currently placing 300 concrete jersey barriers on the 920-metre-long and nine-metre-wide single carriageway flyover to create the central verge.
However, this is not a proper solution for the stretch and RITES has been roped in to conduct a survey of the Outer Ring Road and come up with long-term solutions to decongest the stretch. The Rs 59.6-crore flyover had been built as part of the Commonwealth Games projects to provide a signal-free ride from IIT to NH-8 but has only increased the traffic mess on the stretch.