Infamous for traffic congestion, key arterial stretches like Mathura Road, Ring Road, SP Mukherjee Marg near Old Delhi railway station, Mehrauli-Mahipalpur Road, Rani Jhansi Road, MB Road, Dwarka and Aurobindo Marg are likely to undergo a mega upgrade in the coming year.
The Public Works Department (PWD) has proposed at least 10 major infrastructure projects to decongest some of the city’s busiest and critical corridors to provide smooth connectivity between North-South, South-Central as well as Old Delhi and Delhi-NCR, officials said.
“These proposals are for the year 2026-27 and are likely to be mentioned in the upcoming Budget. Following an internal inspection and inputs from the traffic police, the PWD has come up with an integrated transit corridor redevelopment plan at critical choke points to ease traffic movement and provide smooth connectivity between arterial stretches,” said a senior PWD official.
“These proposals are in the initial stage and have been discussed in multiple meetings. After the department gets heads up from the higher authorities, it will appoint consultants to conduct feasibility study and prepare a detailed project plan,” added the official.
A map of the proposed projects
The plan
According to an official document, the PWD has proposed an elevated corridor parallel to the Outer Ring Road with suitable slip roads for entry and exit.
The Outer Ring Road – a 47-km-long stretch that encircles the Capital anti-clockwise, starting from North Delhi’s Civil Lines and ending at South East Delhi’s Kalindi Kunj – passes through some prominent locations in South Delhi, including Modi Mill, IIT flyover and RK Puram among others.
“With the increasing number of people, houses and vehicles on the road, the Outer Ring Road is facing heavy traffic. It has around 14 junctions that see heavy traffic throughout the day. Some of these include Subroto Park, Vasant Kunj, Munirka and the Okhla to IIT stretch. These stretches also provide connectivity to IGI Airport, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Noida,” said the official.
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Besides, the PWD has proposed extending the Mukarba Chowk underpass until Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar by constructing a road overbridge to improve connectivity in Outer Delhi, GT Karnal Road, Singhu Border and other parts of Haryana.
“As this part of the city connects the outer part of Delhi with NCR areas on the Haryana border, it sees heavy traffic due to truck movement. An underpass is already under construction in this area. To ease congestion, the department is planning to extend this further,” said the official.
Further, the PWD is planning to build an elevated road from Bhalswa to National Highway 1 to further decongest the outer parts of the Capital and improve connectivity to the central parts of the city.
The department is also thinking of reviving its old plan to decongest and improve Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Marg for smooth entry to Old Delhi railway station. “The stretch, especially around the station, is heavily congested due to a mix of industrial and recreational areas on both sides of the road. Earlier, a plan was initiated but could not be executed,” said the official.
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The government’s proposal also talks about the construction of bridges on the Yamuna for better connectivity to the Trans-Yamuna area. Besides, to improve connectivity between West Delhi and Outer and Central Delhi, the PWD is proposing to build a flyover/elevated corridor connecting Zakhira to Anand Parbat Industrial Area.
It has also proposed two integrated transit corridor development projects to decongest two major choke points — the South Delhi-Mehrauli Badarpur Road from Batra Hospital to Maa Anandmayee Marg, and Aurobindo Marg from INA to Mehrauli.
The proposal for the next fiscal year also includes plans to build an underground tunnel and improve the existing Dwarka road from National Highway 8 to Dwarka.
Further, to address peak-hour traffic in key locations that connect India Gate, ITO, East Delhi, New Delhi and Central Delhi, the PWD is planning a decongestion plan for Mathura Road, ITPO Tunnel and Ring Road. “This stretch sees heavy traffic, with vehicles moving at a snail’s pace every day, especially during peak hours,” said the official.
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Other key junctions that are being considered under the decongestion plan include Majnu Ka Tila–Burari Road Junction in Northeast Delhi, Rani Jhansi Road from Kashmere Gate Junction to Vandematram Marg to ensure smooth connectivity in North Delhi, and Mehrauli-Mahipalpur Road to improve connectivity between South West Delhi and IGI Airport, officials said.
