Gurugram: Barriers to be removed from Shahid Hawaldar Singh Chowk today

The Gurugram traffic police will start a three-day trial at Shahid Hawaldar Singh Chowk from Saturday by removing all traffic diversions.

As part of this trial,plastic jersey barriers will be removed from the chowk and commuters can go straight towards Golf Course Road (GCR) via St Thomas Marg from Kanhai Chowk as well the go right towards Golf Course Extension Road (GCER). Commuters will no longer have to take a mandatory left towards Huda City Centre (HCC) and then take a U-turn opposite Gold Souk Mall to head towards GCR or GCER, said traffic police.

Shahid Hawaldar Singh Chowk is one of the busiest junctions in the city. Traffic from GCR, GCER, Kanhai Chowk, and HCC converge at the junction. The Kanhai Chowk is located around 400 metres from Shahid Hawaldar Singh Chowk. However, residents and government agencies tend to refer to Shahid Hawaldar Singh Chowk as Kanhai Chowk along with the actual chowk. .

Traffic police officials said the trial is being done to reduce congestion on the carriageway of Ambedkar Road carrying traffic from HCC towards GCER.

“For traffic decongestion, a diversion was put in place to ensure smooth traffic flow. Over time, the traffic flow has changed hence, we are planning to conduct a trial by opening this chowk (Shahid Hawaldar Singh Chowk ). The trial would be conducted from Saturday to Monday. Based on the outcome of the trial, we will decide whether the traffic diversion should be reinstated or can be removed,” said Ravinder Singh Tomar, deputy commissioner of police (traffic).

Since 2018, traffic police kept the chowk blocked with the help of jersey barriers during peak traffic hours. In October 2020, this block was turned into a permanent feature.

“The removal of traffic diversions will only shift the traffic congestion from Ambedkar Road back to Shahid Hawaldar Singh Chowk. It will not provide any solution in regards to traffic management,” said Rakesh Kapoor, a resident of DLF 5.

This is the third such traffic trial planned by the Gurugram traffic police this month.Earlier this month, the traffic police blocked two exits below Shankar Chowk flyover to decongest the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway. On Saturday, the traffic police will also carry out another trial at Rajiv Chowk, in which they will use plastic jersey barriers to reduce the width of the carriageways and set up dedicated waiting and pickup points for vehicles. The measure is also expected to safeguard pedestrians and cyclists.

“We have hired the services of a private road safety NGO, which has been conducting both road safety as well as traffic studies at the behest of Gurugram traffic police. On the basis of their recommendations, we have initiated these traffic trials,” said Tomar.