Major relief to commuters: 3 flyover projects of NH-44 opened for traffic in Ludhiana

In a major relief for Ludhiana residents, the long pending projects of three flyovers under National Highway-44 (Jalandhar-Panipat project) have been completed, with deputy commissioner (DC) Pradeep Agrawal opening the Sherpur Chowk flyover for traffic on Monday.

Now, traffic coming from Jalandhar will not have to enter the city to reach Delhi and vice versa, reducing the vehicular rush on Ludhiana roads.

The projects were to be completed by March 31, 2020, but the work was delayed due to the nationwide lockdown. The Basti Jodhewal bridge was opened for traffic in November last year, while both sides of Sherpur Chowk and Cancer Hospital flyover were opened this month.

Punjab road safety council member Rahul Verma said, “The three flyovers worth around 75 crore have been completed and opened for traffic. A temporary down ramp has also been established to facilitate the entry of light vehicles coming from Cancer Hospital side to Sherpur Chowk. Moreover, the administration is in talks with the NHAI to establish permanent entry and exit points at Sherpur Chowk and near Jalandhar Bypass.”

“The expansion project of Laddowal toll plaza is going on and it is expected that the service lane being established over the Buddha Nullah, near Tibba road, would be opened for traffic in around two weeks”, he said.

DC Agrawal said, “Even though the flyovers have been completed, there are still many issues such as Tajpur road cut, entry exit points on the highway, etc, for which we are coordinating with the NHAI.”

PROJECT HANGING FIRE FOR OVER 10 YEARS

The three flyover projects in the city -- Basti Jodhewal, Sherpur Chowk and the one near Mohan Dai Oswal Cancer hospital -- were hanging fire for over ten years, giving the commuters a harrowing time.

The project had commenced in 2008 and was to be completed by 2011, but the construction work was put to a halt in 2010 due to some issues between the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the construction company.

It restarted last year after Congress leader including member of Parliament (MP) Ravneet Singh Bittu, cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, mayor Balkar Sandhu, members of legislative assembly (MLAs) Sanjay Talwar, Surinder Dawar and others staged a two-day protest at Laddowal toll plaza in March, ahead of Lok Sabha elections.

SINGLE SPAN FLYOVER AT TAJPUR ROAD CUT

Apart from the above said projects, the authorities are working on a bridge at Tajpur road cut under change of scope (COS) plans. As a large number of residents cross the highway from Tajpur road cut, they had demanded a passage to cross the road after the completion of the highway project. As there is no cut, the residents have to travel till Basti Jodhewal or Samrala Chowk to cross the road.

As per the information, retired municipal corporation (MC) engineer MPS Kalra has been appointed as consultant for Punjab region by NHAI. He said that they have commenced a survey to establish a single-span flyover which would connect Kailash Nagar with Tajpur Road.

“The survey report would soon be submitted with the NHAI authorities,” he said. Earlier, there was a plan to establish vehicular underpass at the point.