The Delhi government on Friday gave its clearance for the construction of a parallel Ring Road across the Yamuna. The plans are to eventually convert this road into a signal free road connecting the Noida Road to the Wazirabad Road through Mayur Vihar, Geeta Colony, Gandhi Nagar, Shastri Park and Seelampur.

The main feature of this East Delhi road would be an underground tunnel road near the Shastri Park Metro Station. With a proposed length of 850 meters, this would be the longest tunnel road in the city passing through some of the most densely populated colonies of the city where traffic congestion is a routine feature everyday.

The 4-lane tunnel would start at Mahavir Swami Park near Gandhi Nagar and cross the ISBT Road. The proposal to build a grade separator at Shastri Park has also been amalgamated in the finalized design. The PWD would incur a cost of Rs 250 crore in the construction of this tunnel, and the work on this is expected to begin by early next year once the approval was received from the DDA for the same.

One of the major problem areas in converting this parallel Ring Road into a signal free one was the area around the ITO chungi crossing which witnesses chaotic scenes with regards to the trafiic everyday. To take care of this there are plans of constructing another tunnel at this crossing to ensure a free flow of traffic on this road. In fact, the PWD has already decided to construct a flyover and an underpass at ITO, one of the busiest traffic junctions of the city.

As the Commonwealth Games village is located on this new proposed road, it is expected to be completed before the Games begin in 2010. With this, the latest report card of the Urban Development Ministry and the PWD says that 72 flyovers have been constructed in Delhi so far, 11 are under various stages of construction and proposals has been drawn for the construction of another 42 flyovers. All this to ease the traffic situation in the capital bringing much-needed relief to its citizens.