Broken Sector 62 road a traffic nightmare for commuters in Noida

Broken patches, haphazardly parked autos, and an unscientific U-turn are making daily commuting a nightmare on the Sector 62 main road, which connects Delhi and Ghaziabad to Noida via NH-24, said road users.

Commuters said the chaos created by autos that converge outside the Sector 59 Metro station, potholes, and a U-turn just 300 metres ahead of the station, was leading to massive traffic congestion on the route.

The authorities are yet to repair the road as the civil department did not get the green signal from officials to repair it, said Noida authority traffic cell.The problems created by the U-turn will be looked into, they said.

Amit Gupta, a traffic volunteer, said, “The route between Sector 59 Metro station, which connects to NH-24 and Ghaziabad, is the worst in the city. All e-rickshaw and auto-rickshaw drivers stand outside the station; add to that, the unpaved road and a U-turn just 300 metres ahead of the metro station, and traffic slows down to a crawl.”

Gupta said the road condition has remained so since the past one-and-a-half years. The authorities had repaired the stretch temporarily at least three times in the past five months, but given the heavy traffic, the repairs barely hold for one to two months.”

Akash Sen, who commutes daily from his home in Sector 19 to his office in Sector 66, said, “Due to dust and traffic congestion, it is hard to ride my motorcycle on that route.”

The heavy traffic on the Sector 59 route is a result of vehicles coming from Delhi’s Ashram side via Film City, which take the Noida elevated road to reach Ghaziabad.The traffic from Noida to Ghaziabad also merges on that route, traffic officials.

Traffic inspector Sanjay Pal said, “The traffic from six lanes -- four of the elevated road and two lanes of the underpass -- merges into the three lanes of Sector 59 road, which causes heavy congestion during peak hours. In order to widen the road space from Mamura to Sector 59, the traffic police wrote to the Noida authority to shift the nullah and repair the dilapidated road, which is causing snarls.”

“Traffic police continuously remove e-rickshaws and auto-rickshaws from the main road, and during peak hours, a team of four to five traffic personnel remains on the spot to clear the congestion,” said Pal.

Most commercial offices, Industries, IT offices, and residents’ colonies are in sectors 62, 63, and 66. Notably, Sector 62 is the biggest sector in Noida, by area.

DL Verma, senior manager, work circle 4, Noida authority, said, “The repair work will start after the rainy season, and the project to repair the road has not been sanctioned by the officials yet. As soon as we get the green signal, the road from Sector 59 to NH-24 will be repaired.”

SP Singh, deputy general manager, Noida authority traffic cell, said, “All the roads and U-turns in the city were designed by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), so we do not have the power to shrink any divider without informing the CRRI.”

He further said, “We will inspect the Sector 59 U-turn, and if we find any issue, we will consult the CRRI and rectify it.”