Arvind Kejriwal to inaugurate Ashram flyover extension on Monday

New Delhi: Commuting between Delhi and Noida will become hassle-free after the Ashram flyover extension is opened to public on Monday.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will inaugurate the flyover extension, which will allow motorists to bypass three traffic lights between Ashram Chowk and DND and make vehicular movement smoother.

The project was supposed to be inaugurated on February 28, but the event was postponed.

Officials had initially suggested that the delay was because of then PWD Minister Manish Sisodia's arrest, but Chief Minister Kejriwal told a press conference later that it was due to some pending work.

"It is likely to be inaugurated on Monday. The postponement was not due to (arrest of) Sisodia, but because a few works were left,” he had said.

Kailash Gahlot, who was handed over the additional charge of Public Works Department (PWD) following Sisodia's resignation, will be present at the inauguration of the flyover extension on Monday.

Former minister Sisodia had said it was a herculean task to build a flyover in the middle of such a busy road but the PWD engineers undertook the challenge and delivered.

He had said after the completion of this flyover, lakhs of people commuting from Noida and other parts of Delhi to south Delhi will not face traffic jams.

At present, traffic jams are witnessed from the DND loop to the Ashram intersection.

Vehicles now have to take a long route to cross the road from Kilokari, but soon, 150 meters away from Kilokari to Ring Road, drivers will be able to cross the road by taking a U-turn to reach Maharani Bagh or south Delhi, officials said.

Similarly, vehicles going from Maharani Bagh to Sarai Kale Khan, Noida, ITO and Ghaziabad will not have to take long detours. A subway for pedestrians is also being constructed here, they added.

The construction work of the flyover extension started in June 2020 after the project was approved by the Cabinet.

The total cost of the project is Rs 128.25 crore while the total length of the flyover including the ramp is 1,425 metres.