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For commuters making their way from Delhi to Noida daily, the traffic congestion on the stretch between Ashram flyover and DND has long been a big pain point. While the DND Flyway itself provides a quick thoroughfare, the congested approach road has been a massive concern. On Monday, however, the extended stretch of the Ashram Flyover was officially inaugurated and now promises a much smoother vehicular passage.
The 1.42-kilometre-long extended flyover stretch will allow vehicles an easy passage from the Ashram Flyover and onto the DND Flyway in a straight drive. For those looking to move towards Sarai Kale Khan, there is a ramp shaping its way towards the left. And for traffic movement from Sarai Kale Khan towards Lajpat Nagar, there is a loop ramp available as well. So in all, there are three ramps - one towards DND, second towards Sarai Kale Khan and the third moving upwards from Kalindi Colony.
The Ashram Flyover extension has six lanes - three on each side - and has been built at an approximate cost of ₹128.3 crore. The construction first started in June of 2020 but missed the first deadline of June of 2021 due to factors such as Covid and temporary bans on construction due to rising pollution levels. Subsequently, several more deadlines were missed as well. But now that it has been officially opened, the extended flyover is expected to not just provide a smoother passage to DND and therefore Noida but also take some of the traffic load of the alternate Kalindi Kunj-Sarita Vihar route.
While the actual construction work of the Ashram Flyover extension is now over and traffic movement will be permitted, there are a few supplementary work like smart streetlights and rain-water harvesting system that remains to be finished.