Barapullah Phase III double whammy: After design flaw, Google Maps adds to flyover disaster

Delhi Traffic Police has asked the PWD to redesign the Barapullah Phase-III merger near Sundial Park after severe congestion surfaced days after opening. The lane mismatch and sharp alignment have created a recurring choke point, while officials have also blamed inaccurate Google Maps updates for worsening traffic.

In Short

• Barapullah Phase-III flyover opened after 12 years faces heavy traffic soon after inauguration
• Delhi Traffic Police blame Google Maps for not showing congestion on new flyover
• Design flaw: Three lanes merge into two causing bottleneck, sharp turns hampers traffic

Inaugurated after 12 years of delay, Delhi's much-awaited Barapullah Phase-III flyover has become a traffic nightmare literally from the day of its opening on September 29. The stretch, which connects Mayur Vihar to Sarai Kale Khan in South East Delhi and ultimately to AIIMS promised to reduce the travel time between East Delhi and Central Delhi to around 20 minutes. However, within days of opening, commuters reported long jams and commute times of over an hour.

At the heart of the traffic mess, according to the Delhi Traffic Police, is a design flaw that results in two stretches of three lanes each merging into a single three-lane road. This happens not once, but twice on the route from Mayur Vihar to AIIMS causing two huge bottlenecks that lead to near standstill traffic.

And now the Delhi Traffic Police has said that a delay in Google Maps showing traffic data on the route is exacerbating the problem. The immediate trigger, according to the Delhi Traffic Police, is that congestion on the newly opened Barapullah Phase-III stretch is not being reflected on Google Maps.

With the app not showing the traffic situation accurately, commuters have continued to choose the route, adding to the volume of vehicles approaching the two bottlenecks located near Sarai Kale Khan.

The map above shows how Google Maps is presently showing the tarffic situation in and around Sarai Kale Khan. The grey road seen on top right is the Bharapullah Phase-III stretch devoid of any traffic data. The loop seen in the centre is the first bottleneck where two three-lane roads merge into one.

The result has been heavy and slow-moving traffic towards Barapullah and Ring Road. Police have diverted traffic from Phase-III towards NH-24/DND and advised commuters to use alternate routes.

It's not known how long Google Maps will take to accurately showcase the traffic on the new route. According to an answer given on Google's support forum, search features and navigation for newly opened roads and routes can take around a week to stabilise.

THE BIGGER ISSUE: MORE LANES FEEDING INTO FEWER LANES

The lack of traffic data on Google Maps, however, is a temporary issue that's likely going to be resolved soon. The bigger problem that remains is the very design of how the newly opened Phase-III stretch merges into oringal Barapullah Flyover.

The design of the merger near Sundial Park in Sarai Kale Khan creates a basic capacity problem. The newly opened Phase-III flyover has three lanes. But where it meets the existing Barapullah corridor, it meets another road of three lanes, both of which are then narrowed into a single road of three lanes.

The additional traffic capacity created by the new flyover does not continue downstream at the same capacity.

Making things worse is another road of three lanes located just further ahead that brings traffic from the Ashram and DND side onto the corridor.

A joint inspection by traffic police and PWD officials on October 1 identified the problem, while a drone survey showed multiple traffic streams converging within a limited road width.

FLYOVER'S GEOMETRY ALSO A PROBLEM

The lane reduction is compounded by the physical design of the junction.

According to the traffic police, the new flyover meets the existing Barapullah flyover near Sundial through a relatively sharp or rectangular alignment instead of a smooth curve. This creates an abrupt merging movement rather than allowing traffic to merge gradually.

The traffic police has asked the PWD to redesign the merger rather than relying only on traffic enforcement and diversions.

TRAVEL TIME NOW TAKING OVER AN HOUR

The Barapullah Phase-III flyover was inaugurated on September 29 after several years of delays. It connects Mayur Vihar Phase-I on the Noida Link Road with Sarai Kale Khan and merges with the existing Barapullah network to create a continuous 10-km, signal-free stretch towards the AIIMS roundabout.

The project was intended to reduce pressure on the Delhi-Noida Direct Flyway and Akshardham stretches and improve connectivity between East and South Delhi.

However, the traffic deteriorated soon after the opening. By Thursday evening, commuters travelling the nearly 8-km stretch between Safdarjung Hospital and Sarai Kale Khan were taking more than an hour to complete the journey.

The 3.5-km, four-lane elevated Phase-III corridor was designed to improve connectivity between Mayur Vihar Phase-I and Sarai Kale Khan and provide a direct link towards the existing Barapullah corridor.

For commuters heading towards AIIMS, the journey was expected to fall from around 35-40 minutes to nearly 15 minutes because of the elevated, largely signal-free route and its connection with the existing network.

The revised cost of the project is around Rs 1,635 crore.

- Ends