Flyover construction at Noida’s Parthala Chowk leads to traffic congestion

Residents of Parthala Chowk are a disgruntled lot these days as commuters use their societies as thoroughfare thanks to the closure of service roads due to the ongoing flyover construction.

To ease traffic near the busy Parthala Chowk intersection, an 800m-long flyover is being constructed parallel to the upcoming Metro line from Noida towards Noida extension (from Sector 121 towards Sector 123). Owing to the construction work, the road between Sector 71 and Parthala intersections has been completely closed for traffic since July this year and diversions have been made through the service lanes.

However, according to residents, there are no signages to display said diversions and traffic in the area, apart from being permanently congested, is now completely mismanaged, especially during the evening peak hours. The problem has intensified because of the higher volume of traffic in the past few days, due, in part, to the ongoing festive season, residents say.

“The diversions have created a big mess outside our society with no space left for our own vehicles to enter. There were some signages directing people on how to enter the society, but have gone missing, and people are completely lost. In case of any medical emergency, we will not be able to move out of our homes,” said Dinesh Singh, a resident of Ajnara Homes 121 in Sector 121.

With increased traffic and no signage, the situation has worsened, said Abhay Pandey, another resident of Homes 121.

“In the past four or five days, the traffic load seems to have increased a lot. Till around 9.30pm, this road is completely blocked. Even regular commuters are confused about the directions around Parthala Chowk,” he said, adding that the diversion towards Bahlolpur from Sector 71 is a major bottleneck as several vehicles take the wrong side of the road to avoid a long U-turn.

According to the original diversion plan, commuters going from Sector 71 to Kisan Chowk via Parthala roundabout have to take a left towards Homes 121 apartments and use the service lane behind the apartments going towards the roundabout. A second diversion has been made on the 130-metre road, due to the prevailing dedicated freight corridor (DFC) project work. Vehicles going from Shivalik Homes apartments towards the 130-metre road have to take the service road behind the society to go to their destination. On the 130-metre road between Tilpata roundabout and Sakipur, both lanes of traffic will have use a single road.

Noida authority, the nodal agency in charge of the construction, said the flyover was due to be ready by January or February next year.

“The work is about 67% complete. We are erecting the main girder as of now. We will check the site on Thursday and if signages are missing, we will get them installed,” said AK Jain, senior manager, Noida authority.

Traffic police officers, meanwhile, said that they tried to implement the best possible traffic solution around Parthala Chowk, and added that they could not do much till the flyover was ready.

“Parthala Chowk is definitely the biggest chokepoint in the district as of now. This is why we have tried all possible solutions here. We always have personnel deployed at the intersection and in case of any medical emergency, they will remove barricades to facilitate movement. We have also kept the diversions dynamic depending on the traffic load so that as many vehicles as possible can pass through. We have done much scientific analysis to come up with these solutions. It would have been easier for us to block the intersection completely and create diversions, but keeping it dynamic ensures that there are fewer diversions during off-peak hours,” said Ganesh Prasad Saha, deputy commissioner of police (traffic).

He added that the only solution is for the flyover work to be completed at the earliest. Saha said that removing the diversions ensured that at least three sides of the intersection, except the one towards Sector 71 remains free and only one road is congested.

According to a 2018 Noida authority survey, about 125,000 vehicles use this intersection daily—a number which is bound to have increased. According to the same survey, during peak hours, from 10am to 11am, an average of 18,000 vehicles cross the intersection every hour. The busy Parthala Chowk connects with Ghaziabad on the north; Greater Noida West sectors on the east; Noida City Centre, Sector 71 intersection and further towards Delhi on the West and the crowded 7x sectors towards the south.