Broken stretches, potholes cause two bottlenecks on Golf Course Road Extn

Golf Course Road Extension has become one of the most important roads in the city over the past four years with the construction of 10 upscale residential societies, three international schools and many commercial complexes in the area. Despite this rapid pace of development, authorities have made no efforts to repair broken stretches of the road, which slows down traffic movement and causes massive congestion in the area during peak hours.

The road has two major traffic bottlenecks where it intersects Sohna Road (Vatika Chowk) and Vikas Marg, respectively. About the traffic problem, Kirti Jha, a resident of Sector 49, said "Traffic jams have become a regular affair on these two intersections. My office is on Golf Course Road and I live on Sohna Road. Some two years ago, commute to work was pretty easy but now it has become a pain. Sometimes, it takes me 45 minutes to cover a distance of merely seven kilometres."

Residents and commuters blamed this on poor condition of the road and movement of heavy vehicles during office hours. V Rengarajan, a resident of Sector 65, said, "As soon as one reaches the intersection of Golf Course Road Extension and Vikas Marg, one finds a long stretch of broken road. I have to bring down the speed of my car to 10km/hr in order to cross this area. The road has many such stretches, which hinder traffic flow and lead to jams."

Some commuters also pointed out that the absence of stormwater drains in the area led to flooding of the road during monsoon which, in turn, gave rise to potholes and broken stretches. "The problem is that the road is usually relaid before monsoon. This year, the road was relaid in April and got damaged in June as soon as the rain started because there are no stormwater drains for the stagnant water to flow out. Even light showers flood the road and damage it," said Vikalp Panwar, a resident of Sohna Road.

According to commuters, the situation has become worse since the completion of Southern Peripheral Road (SPR), which connects Sohna Road with Manesar. "There has been a drastic increase in the movement of heavy vehicles on Golf Course Road Extension which can now reach Manesar through Sohna Road and SPR. Earlier, these vehicles used to take the NH-8. The increased movement of heavy vehicles further damages the road," said Mahendra Dabas, a resident of Sector 57.

Talking about possible solutions, local MCG councillor Mahesh Daima said, "First, there is an urgent need to repair the road. Second, water from Aravali hills and Ghata collects on the road during monsoon, which has to be checked by constructing stormwater drains on both sides. Last but most important is construction of slip roads and service roads on the stretch."