Elevated highway, tunnel, Metrino to IGI Airport soon: Gadkari

NEW DELHI: There may soon be an elevated parallel highway to IGI Airport, a tunnel from Haryana side and Metrino that would go a long way in decongesting traffic, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said.

The proposal to construct an elevated parallel highway and a tunnel from Haryana side connecting the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) will be in addition to the ambitious Metrino project and Dwarka Express Highway, the work on which will start soon.

The minister said that they are examining a proposal to build an elevated parallel road to the airport and traffic from Haryana side can be diverted to it. The main obstacle is there are two radars on the sides of the proposed elevated road.  The issue for changing the position of radars were taken up in the meeting and its feasibility is being examined.

The minister said the government will also construct a tunnel from Haryana side and connect it with the Terminal 3 of the airport to reduce frequent traffic jams.

The minister said the two proposals are in addition to the proposed Dwarka Expressway for which he “took a review meeting with Union Civil Aviation Minister Raju and Airport authority to resolve issues”.

Gadkari said that earlier the Haryana government was constructing the Dwarka Expressway but now the Centre will do it by declaring it a national highway.Meanwhile, work on the ambitious Rs 800 crore pilot pod taxi project – also known as Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) or Metrino – is also likely to start soon.

The minister had recently said that the Rs 800 crore project will be implemented under NHAI.The pilot project will be for about Rs 800 crore for a 12.3-km stretch from Delhi-Haryana border on NH 8 (near Ambience Mall) to Badshahpur via Rajiv Chowk, IFFCO and Sohna Road.

Four global companies — one from London which has done work in this regard at the Heathrow airport, second from the UAE, third from the US and the fourth from Poland — have qualified in initial technical bids.The Rs 4,000-crore public transport project provides for travel in driver-less pods suspended on a ropeway in NCR.

The first phase will be connecting the 70-km stretch from Dhaula Kuan in Delhi to Manesar in Haryana to decongest NCR and ease traffic.

A few months back, a presentation on the project was made before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Cabinet.

Gadkari has said the massive work is underway to reform the face of the highway sector and the pilot project will be one such step in that direction.

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