The start of a very important underpass below the Dwarka Expressway, which connects Basai Road Overbridge to Sectors 102 and 102A, was marked as a milestone on Tuesday morning when it opened for traffic on trial basis. National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said that two out of four lanes have been opened while the others will be opened the next day.

L&T project manager Santosh Shukla said he was delighted with the completion of the underpass, which has opened one side for traffic trial to ensure structural safety and vehicle movement. \”Opposite lanes will go through trial from Wednesday onwards which will provide direct access to Dwarka expressway and NH 48 for people coming from these sides,\” he said, adding that slip roads have been provided for this purpose so that residents can have complete access till slip road level and move either towards Hero Honda Chowk or Sector 37D. The operational efficiency of the underpass will be seen in the coming days during this trial period.

Dwarka E-Way Underpass Opens Partially

The length of the underpass is 548 meters and it has cost ₹24 crore. It will cater to the long-standing connectivity needs of residents living in new sectors between 99-115 who had all along been forced to use alternative routes such as Bajghera railway crossing near DEW or UER-II etc., which not only increased travel time but also led to traffic congestion at these points.

According to NHAI officials, this underpass will help ease out traffic flow between Hero Honda Chowk and residential sectors besides providing direct accessibility to six sectors on western side — sec-102, 102A, 103,106,Kherki Majra,Basai,Dhankot — and other nearby areas.

“In fact whole Dwarka Expressway should have been completed much earlier if there were no issues related with land acquisition,” said an official. As per sources, the land acquisition process for this underpass became a stumbling block after which it was decided to build an ROB here. Besides, shifting of a master water pipeline and constant dewatering due to high groundwater levels also posed challenge during construction.

Once ready, the underpass will also be linked with a proposed road that will connect sectors 102-102A with AIIMS in Bhadsa village, Jhajjar. This road is being built by PWD department under supervision of Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and it aims to provide smooth connectivity between Dwarka Expressway and various health institutions located in that area. Land acquisition process for this road has already been initiated.

Residents welcomed the opening of the Basai road overbridge, which had opened in April last year but could not be made operational as land litigation was still pending. “This much-delayed move will bring great relief to thousands of people living along sectors 100-115 who have been forced to take long detours due to lack of direct access to expressways,” said Sunil Sareen, former president of the Imperial Garden RWA in Sector 102.