Dwarka expressway cloverleaf to join NH-48 by end of month

The work to connect the cloverleaf junction on Dwarka Expressway with Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway (NH-48), and the Southern Peripheral Road (SPR) near Kherki Daula will be completed by the end of the month, and this will ensure seamless connectivity to commuters across all three roads, confirmed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and highway contractor L&T.

Although both entities aver that the road will be ready by the month-end, neither was ready to confirm when it will be opened to traffic.

The 29km Dwarka Expressway is being constructed in four packages with package one and two falling in Delhi, while package three and four, around 18km, falling in Gurugram.

The cloverleaf that will connect the Dwarka Expressway with NH-48 is part of package four and it starts from Basai railway overbridge and ends on the NH-48 near Kherki Daula.

A senior L&T official, when asked about the connectivity of cloverleaf with NH-48, said the work to connect the four ramps with NH-48 has been initiated and is expected to be completed by the month-end.

“We have started the work of connecting the cloverleaf with the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway and it will be completed by end of the month,” he said.

When asked about the opening of the cloverleaf and the package three and four of Dwarka Expressway, NHAI officials said they have not received any direction from the headquarters or Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari, who was on an inspection visit to Dwarka Expressway on Monday evening.

“We have not received any direction regarding the opening of the road,” said a senior NHAI official, asking not to be named

A large number of commuters presently use Loop One of the cloverleaf to travel from sectors 81 to 95 towards Rajiv Chowk. But they can access NH-48 only via the service road, which is broken at several places and gets waterlogged near Narsinghpur whenever it rains.

The work on the Ramp One is almost complete and the access road has also been blacktopped, said NHAI officials.

The work on Ramp Two is also underway, and it takes the traffic from Kherki Daula towards the Dwarka Expressway and work to construct the road has been taken up.

Ramp Three of the cloverleaf takes the traffic from SPR to Kherki Daula and towards Jaipur. The work on this section is likely to take some time as a drain has to be diverted on that stretch.

Ramp Four of the cloverleaf will take the traffic from Gurugram towards SPR.

A L&T official said commuters can use a combination of ramps and loops on the four way junction to access the three major roads of Dwarka Expressway, Southern Peripheral Road, and NH-48.

Tanmoy Chatterjee, project director, L&T, said, ”The work on the cloverleaf will be completed by end of the month but the decision to open it to traffic can be taken only by the NHAI,” he said.

Officials privy to the matter said the deadline for completing the work on the cloverleaf is between September 15 and September 17.

Prakhar Sahay, an apartment owner on Dwarka Expressway, said the opening of the cloverleaf will greatly ease commuting on both sides of NH-48, particularly those living in sectors 81 to 95. “Currently, there is heavy traffic congestion on the service lane of NH-48 which connects the cloverleaf leaf with the highway. The road is also broken and in a bad shape. The opening of the cloverleaf will greatly ease traffic,” he said.